© 1996 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd | September 1996
An American woman has been charged with attempting
to murder her fetus by drinking alcohol throughout her pregnancy,
including the day she gave birth.
Deborah Zimmerman, then aged 34 and nine months pregnant, entered a Wisconsin bar at 2 pm on 16 March. Halfway through her second drink she confided to the bartender that she was pregnant. He immediately took the drink away and found someone to contact her mother, who took her to the hospital.
In the hospital Deborah Zimmerman swore at the staff and tore off the fetal heart monitors. "If you don't keep me here, I'm just going to go home and keep drinking and drink myself to death," she reportedly told a surgical aide. "And I'm going to kill this thing because I don't want it anyways."
Later that night she gave birth to a girl weighing 4 lb 6 oz (1985 g) who had mild fetal alcohol syndrome. The infant had a blood alcohol concentration that was almost twice the amount for a legal finding of adult intoxication in Wisconsin.
On the basis of these facts, Assistant District Attorney Joan Korb is charging Zimmerman with attempted murder. The possible maximum penalty is 50 years in jail plus a $10 000 (£7000) fine. This would not be Deborah Zimmerman's first time in jail: she served a year in 1983 for killing a Milwaukee man by drunken driving.
"I thought the charges fit the alleged crime," Ms Korb explained. "We need laws in this country against maternal substance abuse." Other observers, however, disagree. "It's dreadful that this has become a legal issue," said Jon Aase, clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico. "I believe this approach is counterproductive. It won't change the dynamics of the woman's life or that of her child." He added: "I can't see the benefit to society in bringing her to trial." Professor Aase said that Deborah Zimmerman deserved treatment in a medical setting, not jail.
Many medical organizations in the United States, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have issued statements against prosecuting pregnant women who misuse alcohol or drugs.
In addition, this approach has been rejected by supreme and appeal courts in every state, said Lynn Paltrow, director of special litigation for the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy in New York City. The one exception is South Carolina, which in July became the first state in the United States to rule that a pregnant woman can be prosecuted for endangering her fetus through drug addiction.
Ms Paltrow pointed out that Deborah Zimmerman, an alcoholic since her teens, had been in an abusive marriage, had been raped several times in her life, the last time while she was pregnant, and was probably suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress. Ms Paltrow also warned against the establishment of a pregnancy police force that could take inappropriate measures in its zeal to protect a fetus.
Ms Paltrow cited the case of a woman in San Diego, California, who, having delivered a sickly child who died a few months later, was brought up on charges that she had had intercourse with her husband on the day of her delivery and that she had not followed her doctor's orders. "Once you open that door, there's no closing it," Ms Paltrow said.
Ms. Korb, however, pointed out: "People didn't take drunk driving laws seriously until we started making them pay the penalty. Maybe this will make women who are addicts or alcoholics think twice before getting pregnant, or if they become pregnant, maybe it will give them an incentive to stop the substance abuse." Deborah Zimmerman's case was presented in court on 5 September; the judge is expected to give his decision within 10 days. -NORRA MACREADY, freelance journalist, Irvine, California
