PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR REPORTING AND PUNISHING PEOPLE WHO USE ALCOHOL OR DRUGS WHILE PREGNANT

Objectives

Given increased criminalization of pregnant people and erosion of abortion rights, we need a better understanding of the extent of public support for reporting or punishing people for using alcohol or drugs while pregnant.

Methods

We administered a national probability-based online survey (December 2021-January 2022) to English- and Spanish-speaking people assigned female at birth (AFAB, ages 15-49) or male at birth (AMAB, ages 18-49) regarding their attitudes about punishing or reporting pregnant people who use alcohol or drugs and whether abortions performed within or outside the healthcare system should be legal. We used weighted analyses to estimate national support for reporting (reporting to police, to child protective services (CPS) and punishing (paying a fine, going to jail) pregnant people who use alcohol or drugs and their association with views on abortion legality.

Results

Among the 7,016 AFAB and 360 AMAB survey respondents, most supported reporting pregnant people for using alcohol or drugs to the police (57.6% AFAB, 54.8% AMAB) and CPS (69.1% AFAB, 71.3% AMAB); while fewer respondents supported punishing people with a fine (40.2% AFAB, 40.3% AMAB) or jail (31.3% AFAB, 35.1% AMAB). Support for reporting and punishing people for using alcohol or drugs while pregnant was associated with believing abortion, within or outside the healthcare system, should be illegal (OR 3.0, 95%CI 2.6-3.4 AFAB; OR 1.8, 95%CI 0.9-3.2 AMAB).

Conclusions

Public support for criminalizing alcohol and drug use during pregnancy is high and largely associated with views on abortion legality.