Drug Laws and Morality

I am a nursing supervisor in a Los Angeles area hospital. Over the last couple of years I have seen an alarming increase of drug-addicted babies born at my facility. The mothers are discharged home after delivery and the babies are held at the hospital until placement can be made (either to a relative of the mother or a foster home).

I am becoming more and more enraged by the fact that there is no law in our state that holds the mother criminally responsible for the “abuse” she has inflicted upon her newborn child. Instead, the taxpayers are continually dishing out money to pay for this sometimes lengthy process (the cost of social services and court hearings).

Last week alone, two mothers delivered drug-addicted babies. For one mother, it was her sixth child; for the other mother, it was her eighth. Both mothers were uninsured and unemployed.

Abuse, both of these newborns and our system must be addressed. I am fed up with the excuse that “society” is to blame. When are we going to place the responsibility on the mothers and make them accountable for their irresponsible actions?

MARY J. RUDOLPH

Los Angeles