Wisconsin Obstetricians Discuss Wisconsin's Act 292

Thursday, December 8th, 2022 -- 12:00 PM

(By Phoebe Petrovic | Wisconsin Watch) Every leading professional medical association that has considered the issue in the United States condemns approaches that punish pregnant people for substance use.

According to Phoebe Petrovic with Wisconsin Watch, in Wisconsin, Act 292 takes the opposite approach: The law can force people into treatment and even incarceration. The law passed in 1997 amid a national "crack baby" hysteria, which in later decades was scientifically debunked.

Longitudinal studies found that children exposed to cocaine in-utero did not vary cognitively or developmentally from children who were not exposed. Each year since 2007, Wisconsin authorities have screened in an average of 382 allegations of unborn child abuse under Act 292 for further investigation.

Wisconsin Watch spoke with two obstetricians with experience treating pregnant people with substance use disorder, along with leaders of one treatment facility, to explore what the state’s approach to this population could look like in the absence of Act 292.

Meta House, a Milwaukee-based facility that provides care to women with the condition, opposes the law. CEO Valerie Vidal says it reflects a "severe misunderstanding of substance use and mental health." That’s because substance use disorder is a chronic health condition affecting the brain.

"The laws themselves are criminalizing women who are sick, and ultimately damaging them more by potentially having them be traumatized by a civil detention, instead of getting them access to the care and treatment they may need," she says.

Vidal points out the state does not act this way toward other health conditions that involve a component of personal decision-making and can affect fetal health, such as smoking cigarettes.

Dr. Kathy Hartke, an obstetrician and gynecologist, agrees. She currently co-chairs the Wisconsin Maternal Mortality Review Team, and previously chaired the Wisconsin Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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