In Case You Haven't Heard…

Georgia's H.B. 481, which would make any fetus with a heartbeat a person (starting at six weeks), has a partner: the recognition of any fetus as a “dependent minor.” This has huge ramifications for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The ever vigilant H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., reminded us that this means a pregnant woman who presents for SUD treatment might have to be reported to child welfare and/or the police, whether or not she wants to carry the pregnancy to term. “Thus, merely discovering that she is pregnant at 4 weeks — still undecided that she wants to carry the pregnancy to term or not — makes her a ‘child abuser,’ even though Georgia law would allow for an abortion until six weeks.” SUD treatment providers in the state “would be caught up in a conundrum of significant proportions,” Clark told us. “Can the existing 42 CFR Part 2 protect a treatment‐seeking pregnant woman from sanctions? Under the old laws, yes, but under the new laws, I don't think so. This is something about which we should be thinking.”