ACLU (so you can calm down red avs)
Two women, represented by the ACLU of New Jersey, filed complaints today with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) for violations of their civil rights after they were drug tested without their knowledge or informed consent and in the absence of medical necessity upon arriving at the hospital to give birth. The filings for Kaitlin K. and Kate L. allege that Hackensack University Medical Center and Virtua Voorhees Hospital’s practice of drug testing pregnant patients violates New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination on the basis of sex and pregnancy and seeks, among other relief, that both hospitals end this unlawful practice.
Both women’s tests returned positive for opiates based on their consumption of a bagel with poppy seeds the morning they went to the hospital. Based on these tests , the hospitals called the New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) to report both women for possible abuse or neglect before they even had the chance to parent their newborn children. This led to an invasive, traumatic investigation of each woman’s family that interfered with their first months with their newborns, shattered their trust in medical personnel, and caused fear of further unnecessary scrutiny from the state.
“No one should be subjected to unnecessary and nonconsensual drug tests. Our clients are sending a clear message to hospitals that these testing and reporting policies are unacceptable,” says ACLU-NJ Staff Attorney Molly Linhorst. “Discriminatory testing policies like these upend what should be a time of joy for families, and so often subject them to further trauma and unwarranted investigation by the state.”
other states that do this (or did this in the recent past) include, PA,NY,IL,AL and MD. We all know the "war on drugs" has been a huge failure, why are we still fighting it?
