 Alabama has some serious issues with cannabis and women.
Earlier this year, Alabama Senator Larry Stutts introduced a bill which proposed women MUST get a negative pregnancy test from a state approved doctor or lab within the 48 hours prior to each and every time a woman wants to make a medical marijuana purchase. And now in the latest attempt to control females and their access to cannabis, Alabama police have been enforcing a strange, archaic old state law that allows them to jail pregnant women, without a charge, without a trial, without an attorney, and without opportunity to get out until the state decides. If law enforcement think the mother may use cannabis while pregnant, then they use their own sole discretion on the matter to jail the mother. They say this is allegedly for the so called safety of the unborn fetus. Just one example of this misuse of power was the case of a 23 year old woman named Ashley Banks who was pulled over for a simple, routine traffic stop on May 25th. Officers did notice a very small amount of cannabis in her car and also found a pistol without a permit to carry. She was arrested, and under normal circumstances, she would have been able to post bond and leave jail until her trial. While speaking with officers, Ms. Banks admitted to having used cannabis two days prior to the arrest, which she said was also the day she found out she was pregnant. Using this information, authorities cited a state law which allows for them to immediately force her into a rehab facility or hold her in jail indefinitely, without a trial. Ms Banks did go to the rehab facility, which sent her back to the authorities because they said she was not an addict, just a casual user, and therefore rehab was not necessary. So, the authorities then just decided to use the law to hold her in jail, without any opportunity to post bail, or fight the situation with an attorney. She was held in jail for three months like this. There have been other cases just like this. Pregnant women and mothers of newborns who have been accused, but not convicted, of expositing fetuses to drugs have also been held for weeks and months inside jail. The only bond condition they have is to go to rehab and post $10,000 cash. But if you don’t have $10,000 cash, AND if the rehab says you’re not actually an addict and so you don’t need rehab, then you’re stuck in jail. This Alabama law basically gives law enforcement officers power, without a judge, jury, or attorney, to decide if they - the officers - think the female is a threat to her unborn fetus, then jail her indefinitely for the so called protection of the fetus. In Ms. Banks case, while in jail, her pregnancy suffered. She had a family history of misscarriages and difficult pregnancies. She often bled in jai and was not given medical attention. She was forced to sleep in a cell with too many women, and had to sleep on the floor on at least one occasion. According to National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), Etowah county in Alabama has jailed 150 pregnant women in recent years, 12 of whom are sitting in jail there right now. The Guardian newspaper commented, “The movement claims to see embryos and fetuses as persons, and in practice they speak as if these “persons” are not women’s equals, but their superiors: the fetus is conceived of as more important than the woman, more worthy…” Comments are closed.
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