Bill addresses drug use during pregnancy (Virginia)

chathamstaribune.com ^ | February 4, 2015 | DEL. LES ADAMS

[Morgana]

This year’s “short session” of Virginia’s General Assembly is moving at an increasingly rapid pace in the House of Delegates as legislation is being reported out of committee and onto the House floor.

We will soon approach cross-over, the term used for when bills passed in each house of the legislature are presented to the other for consideration.

Included in this number will likely be a couple of measures I have sponsored which, having reported out of committee, I anticipate will soon gain passage.

Another bill I submitted has proven more controversial, generating particular media attention last week.

House Bill 1456, as written, would authorize a local child-protective services department to open an investigation or perform a family assessment after validating a report or complaint of illegal drug use by a pregnant woman when her unborn child would be harmed by the continued use of the controlled substances.

Currently, social services departments may only intervene upon receiving these reports after a child has been delivered, and sadly, the damage has been done.

My legislation is offered as a remedy to this problem whereby services could be provided to pregnant women in an attempt to spare their unborn children from the devastating consequences of prenatal substance abuse.

[Wolfie]

Kind of pointless unless the vast array of legal prescription drugs is also included.