A Conway, SC jury deliberated less than 15 minutes before returning a guilty verdict against Regina McKnight, 24, who has two other children and is two-months pregnant again. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Wyndi Anderson, executive director of the South Carolina Advocates for Pregnant Women, told The Associated Press[/link] the case opens the door for prosecutors to charge women with neglect under other conditions, such as smoking during pregnancy.
Or drinking during pregnancy?
The prosecution of McKnight was made possible by a 1996 state Supreme Court ruling that a viable fetus is considered a child and mothers can be charged with abuse if they took drugs after their unborn child was able to live outside the womb.
"The state needed to press forward because a child ended up dead," prosecutor Bert von Herrmann told reporters. "She smoked cocaine as much and as often as she could ... if that's not extreme indifference to life, I don't know what is."
No Safe Level
Because new research is finding more and stronger links between pregnant women drinking and birth defects, known as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), the McKnight case could potentially affect all pregnant women who drink -- at least in South Carolina.According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control, the rate of reported fetal alcohol syndrome has increased sixfold between 1979 and 1993, which may be the result of a greater awareness of FAS, not necessarily a greater rate of incidence.
Potentially, any mother who gives birth to a child exhibiting the many signs of FAS could be charged with neglect, in light of this court case. The minimum quantity of alcohol required to produce adverse fetal consequences is unknown and varies from individual to individual, according to research, so no "safe" level of drinking during pregnancy has been determined.
'Potent New Ways'
"Despite the many gains in knowledge, we still do not know if there is a 'safe' dose of alcohol that can be consumed by pregnant women without risking damage to their unborn children," said NIAAA Director Enoch Gordis, M.D. "Until such a safe dose, if it exists, can be determined, the only responsible advice to women who wish to become pregnant and to those who are pregnant is to avoid alcohol use entirely.""Unfortunately, many women continue to drink during pregnancy. Furthermore, many of the women who continue to drink during pregnancy are at highest risk for having children with fetal alcohol syndrome and related problems," Gordis said. "Thus, finding potent new ways to reach populations at risk and to influence changes in their behavior remains a challenge for alcohol research."
In South Carolina, at least, those "potent new ways" may now include criminal charges, if the McKnight case sets a precedent.
McKnight's attorneys will appeal the verdict, they said.
UPDATE: Court Lets Stand 'Crack Mom' Conviction
