Bei Bei Shuai speaks at rally

by Yvonne Man

beibei shuai

April 6, 2013, Supports held signs and cheered on Saturday afternoon, in support of Bei Bei Shuai.  The 36-year-old made her first public appearance, since being charged with murder and attempted feticide two years ago.  “It’s been really tough because you know, because I have some downs and having a really difficult time,” Shuai begins. “I do have to be under these criminal charges and I still have a lot of grieving.”

Shuai’s attonry, Linda Pence believes the charges against her client are on a slippery slope. “All this case has done is made suicide a crime for only pregnant women,” says Pence. Continue reading →

Experts Challenge Findings in FL Task Force Report on Rx Drug Abuse & Newborns‏

April 4, 2013, New York and Maryland, April 3, 2013 – Today, four leading experts in law, medicine, and addiction treatment, Robert G. Newman, MD, MPH, Lynn M. Paltrow, JD, Sharon Stancliff, MD, FAAFP and Mishka Terplan, MD, MPH, FACOG, Diplomate, ABAM, released to Task Force members and the public their analysis of the Final Report issued by the Florida Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns, urging Florida to give greater attention to existing well-established medical protocols and to address the needs of pregnant women, including the need for greater access to Medication Assistance Treatment and health services that are not linked to punitive criminal justice and unnecessary child welfare interventions. Continue reading →

April 6, 2013: Rally For Bei Bei Shuai and Against the New Jane Crow‏

Posted for National Advocates for Pregnant Women:

Indianapolis-based student, social justice, and faith-based activists are planning a rally in support of Bei Bei Shuai and against separate and unequal laws for pregnant women. The Rally will take place on April 6 at 2pm in front of the City Market (222 E. Market Street) in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Please join us there!

More than two years ago Bei Bei Shuai was pregnant and, in an act of desperation, sought to kill herself. Friends intervened and got her to a hospital in time. She survived and did everything she could to ensure that her baby would too, including undergoing emergency cesarean surgery. The baby was born alive, but tragically did not survive. Continue reading →

Unanimous NJ Supreme Court Decision Affirms that Drug War Propaganda and Junk Science Provides No Basis for Child Neglect and Abuse Finding Against Pregnant Women

New Jersey Civil Child Abuse Laws Do Not Authorize State Jurisdiction Over Pregnant Women; Drug Tests Are Not Predictors of Parenting Ability

For Immediate Release

Contact: Lynn Paltrow 212-255-9252; lmp@advocatesforpregnantwomen.org

February 6, 2013

Today, in a major victory for New Jersey’s pregnant women and families, the New Jersey Supreme Court announced a unanimous opinion in New Jersey Division of Youth & Family Services v. A.L. recognizing that the state’s child protection laws do not give the Division of Child Protection and Permanency jurisdiction or control over pregnant women and that positive drug tests on pregnant women and newborns do not alone establish neglect. The court also acknowledgd the concerns of leading medical and public health organizations that application of child protection laws to the context of pregnancy can undermine maternal, fetal, and child health.

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“New Hope” a program for children with a parent in prison

I recently saw a piece on the news about this wonderful program “New Hope.”

According to federal statistics, children with a parent in prison are five times more likely to end up in prison themselves. John Bentley, CBS Evening News, reports on “New Hope,” an Oklahoma non-profit program that aims to break the cycle.

The Issue: An Invisible Population

No one knows how many children in Oklahoma have a parent in prison. No government agency or private group monitors this segment of the population. These children are —invisible victims of crime, as there is no official record of them and no attempt to address their needs. Somewhere between 20,000 to 25,000 children in Oklahoma have a parent in prison.

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Depressed, Pregnant Women Receive Inconsistent Treatment, Have Longer Hospital Stays

Science News
Depressed, Pregnant Women Receive Inconsistent Treatment, Have Longer Hospital Stays
ScienceDaily (June 16, 2011) — Pregnant women who screen positive for depression are unlikely to receive consistent treatment, researchers say. That may translate to women spending more time in the hospital before babies are even born. Continue reading →

Newly Born and Stigmatized: NYT Fail on Pregnant Women and Drug Use

Newly Born and Stigmatized: NYT Fail on Pregnant Women and Drug Use
By Lynn Paltrow, National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW)
April 11, 2011 – 9:36pm
Like the early stories in the New York Times about prenatal exposure to cocaine, the recent New York Times story, Newly Born, and Withdrawing from Pain Killers relies on anecdote and innuendo to focus attention on pregnant drug users rather than actual facts, lessons learned, or the real economic and ethical issues that need to be addressed.
One paragraph leads with this alarming characterization: “As prescription drug abuse ravages communities across the country. . . .” When prescription drug use turns into dependency and addiction it can be extremely damaging to the individual and those around them. This piece, however, does not offer one shred of evidence connecting pregnant women’s drug use to community destruction or decay. Continue reading →

Screening at the Adoption: Secret Histories, Public Policies Conference

I recently screened the 79 minute rough cut of Moms Living Clean at the Adoption: Secret Histories, Public Policies Conference at MIT in Cambridge, MA. I was honored to be the first presenter of the conference and a day of documentary films. One might think, what is the link between mothers with addictions and adoption, but a closer look will show that adoption and foster care may be the experience for children of mothers with substance abuse issues, if they cannot stay in recovery, learn parenting skills and become self-sufficient.

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Moms Living Clean work-in-progress screening April 29 at MIT

Moms Living Clean work-in-progress screening:
Thursday, April 29, 2010 – 10:30am-12:15pm
Adoption: Secret Histories, Public Policies Conference
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
followed by Q&A with Sheila Ganz, filmmaker
click here for information and registration

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEa7T1KLeCk]

Please let me know what you think about this. Click on the comment link below.

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Forum on Substance Use and Pregnancy – April 20, 1010

Community Forum —
“Substance Use during Pregnancy: How can we respond?”

Free and open to the public, no registration necessary

Tuesday, April 20, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Chrysalis Community Center, 1589 Hill Rise Dr., Lexington, KY

Drug and alcohol use during pregnancy is a problem that raises serious concerns and strong feelings on the part of Kentucky families, elected officials, individuals in recovery, and community members. This Community Forum will provide us the most up-to-date information on the effects of substance use during pregnancy and how we can best intervene to help baby and mom.

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