Mom Pleads Guilty to Giving Unborn Baby Cocaine

In a case that may set a landmark in Texas law, a 30-year-old Amarillo woman has pleaded guilty to second-degree felony charges of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor -- her unborn baby.

Tracy Yolanda Ward pleaded guilty to the charge, but under Texas law will be allowed to appeal the conviction on constitutional grounds, her defense attorney said. Ward was indicted Dec. 18 on the charge.

The charges were brought under a new Texas law that defines an "individual" as "a human being who is alive, including an unborn child at every stage of gestation from fertilization until birth." Ward's case will be the first to challenge the new law.

District Attorney Rebecca King is prosecuting the case under the new law and other new statues in Texas. She previously sent a letter to Potter County doctors informing them that the new laws demand that they notify authorities when a pregnant woman takes illegal drugs.

Source: Amarillo Globe-News