I don't think "drinking alcohol while pregnant" should be a criminal offense. Shunned, taboo? Sure. Criminal? No. ... Nrrr, I'm using "criminal" in the sense that there's a law against that; I may be using legal terminology incorrectly here.
See above reply to rif about "what is good for society". In that vein: I think smoking in the presence of non-smokers should be taboo, because second-hand smoking is a valid danger. I think no-smoking regs get it right: it's not that you can't smoke, it's that your smoking cannot impede others in certain areas.
So I would argue that taking thalidomide for a sleeping problem (or other strongly teratogenic agents) should not be allowed for a pregnant woman.
So I'll ask you to divide the question. There's a lot of perspectives here: should it be criminal for the doctor to prescribe thalidomide for a pregnant woman? Should it be illegal for a pregnant woman to ask for such? Or only if she ingests it? (My answers are Neglect, No, and No. The "neglect" answer is that if there's willful and repeated neglect, that's criminal behaviour, but if there's a lack of evidence to support that, then I think it's not criminal behaviour -- but the doc should probably lose their certification, which is a civil matter.)
Hmm. I wonder if I'm leaning too heavily on my smokers/second-hand smoke analogy too much.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2011-09-28 02:28 pm (UTC)I don't think "drinking alcohol while pregnant" should be a criminal offense. Shunned, taboo? Sure. Criminal? No. ... Nrrr, I'm using "criminal" in the sense that there's a law against that; I may be using legal terminology incorrectly here.
See above reply to rif about "what is good for society". In that vein: I think smoking in the presence of non-smokers should be taboo, because second-hand smoking is a valid danger. I think no-smoking regs get it right: it's not that you can't smoke, it's that your smoking cannot impede others in certain areas.
So I would argue that taking thalidomide for a sleeping problem (or other strongly teratogenic agents) should not be allowed for a pregnant woman.
So I'll ask you to divide the question. There's a lot of perspectives here: should it be criminal for the doctor to prescribe thalidomide for a pregnant woman? Should it be illegal for a pregnant woman to ask for such? Or only if she ingests it? (My answers are Neglect, No, and No. The "neglect" answer is that if there's willful and repeated neglect, that's criminal behaviour, but if there's a lack of evidence to support that, then I think it's not criminal behaviour -- but the doc should probably lose their certification, which is a civil matter.)
Hmm. I wonder if I'm leaning too heavily on my smokers/second-hand smoke analogy too much.