With an obesity rate well below the national average, superior levels of physical activity and some of the cleanest air in the country, the state of Montana, located in the America's northeastern corner, is generally considered to be a pretty healthy one. However, when it comes to drug and alcohol consumption, there's a different story to be told; the state ranks within the bottom 10 nationally in terms of excessive alcohol usage, and after a steady period of declining drug use, the past few years have seen a huge increase in the prevalence of addiction to illegal drugs, particularly meth and opioids. Despite repeated warnings about the dangers of drug and alcohol use in pregnancy, it seems that Montanan mums-to-be are not immune from this trend. While data from the United Health Foundation shows that rates of alcohol use during pregnancy in Montana are more or less in line with the national average of 10 per cent, the incidences of babies born addicted to opiate-based drugs have risen at twice the national rate. Now in an effort to curb the trend, one county is seeking an “immediate crackdown” on women who use drugs or alcohol during pregnancy, even threatening to jail those who do.
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Gerald Harris, the attorney for Big Horn County, claimed in January 2018 that the state “will seek an order of protection restraining a pregnant female from any non-medically prescribed use” and that if this restraining order is violated, jail time could follow. As well as urging prosecutors across the country to follow his lead, he also called on individuals to report women who drink and take drugs during pregnancy to the police, and for pregnant women already struggling with substance issues to turn themselves in. Women who choose to have an abortion rather than refraining from drugs or alcohol, should also be prosecuted, he said, as they do not have "the full mental capacity to exercise the ‘right to abortion.'" In many ways, these concerns are understandable. Babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome may experience gastro-intestinal illnesses, disturbed sleep patterns and seizures, and there is strong evidence that drinking alcohol during pregnancy may lead to what is known as foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). This condition can cause physical and mental impairments in the baby including slow growth, a head that is smaller than usual, learning difficulties and behavioural problems. According to current guidelines set by the CDC, America’s health protection agency, expectant mothers should avoid all alcohol for the duration of their pregnancy, stating that: “There is also no safe time during pregnancy to drink". It also suggests, perhaps idealistically, that: “Women also should not drink alcohol if they are sexually active and do not use effective contraception” in case they drink while pregnant unknowingly.
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But is taking such a harsh line even legal? Well, it seems everyone is a little unsure. Despite the CDC advice, drinking alcohol during pregnancy is not a crime in any US state, and while drug abuse during pregnancy is currently classed as child abuse in almost half of US states, Montana is not one of them. Tennessee is the only state where the act itself is actually a crime. Montanan law defines a foetus as existing from eight weeks of pregnancy until birth, and while the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 recognises a foetus as a legal victim if injured or killed through a violent crime, drug or alcohol abuse is not covered by this. However, Harris is calling on article II, section three of the Montanan Constitution, which guarantees “defending their lives and liberties” of all people and “seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways.” The damage caused by prenatal foetal drug and alcohol abuse, he argues, is in contradiction to this. At present, Montana Department of Justice attorneys have refused to comment on the grounds that they are unsure where this ruling stands legally. Unsurprisingly, Big Horn County’s stance has received sharp criticism from a number of camps, including Planned Parenthood Montana and the American Civil Liberties Union, who have promised to legally challenge the move on the basis that: “Policies such as Harris’s have no positive impact on the health and wellbeing of pregnant women. These cruel policies will foster a climate of anxiety and mistrust between doctors and patients and will drive women away from the health care and treatment they need.”
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The approach also goes against the advice of the American Academy of Paediatrics’ Committee on Substance Use and Prevention, who in 2017 published an advisory warning that when women abruptly stop using substances there is "an increased rate of fetal demise, early onset of labor, and poor pregnancy outcomes for the mother as well”, going on to argue that putting funding into a public health response to the use of drugs and alcohol during pregnancy would be more effective than a penal one: “If we’re a country that is so interested in a welfare of our children, then we really need to put our money where our mouth is.”But despite the criticism, Harris is unapologetic: “I regret not taking a more proactive approach until recently,” he told Undark magazine. “You’ve got a potential generation of young folks that are going to have disability because of the prevalence of meth addiction, alcoholism, and other types of drug addiction. I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”It's almost without debate that Montana, and America more widely, does need to do something to combat the increasing number of babies born with foetal alcohol and neonatal abstinence syndromes. Right now, there's a whole generation of children that aren't getting the best start in life because of addiction. But whatever the correct approach to reducing the use of alcohol and drugs during pregnancy is, it is clear that Big Horn County’s is a controversial one, which pretty clearly misses the point that addiction isn't a choice.
Last month, the state of Alabama passed one of the nation's most restrictive bans on abortion in recent years, and it sparked a veritable domino effect. Now, both Missouri and Georgia have announced similar anti-abortion bills.
The draconian laws would prohibit abortion after a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected, oftentimes before most women have even realized they're pregnant.
The backlash was swift, with thousands of women taking to Twitter to speak about their personal experiences, using the hashtags #ShoutYourAbortion, and #YouKnowMe. In May, people also took to the streets to march as part of the #StopTheBans protest. Over 500 marches occurred at statehouses, town squares, and courthouses across the US, as well as in Canada, and Puerto Rico.
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Now, an anonymous doctor from the US has written a harrowing essay detailing his experience of helping a woman give birth to an infant with no skull. The piece, titled The Myth of Choice, was published amid a wave of anti-abortion laws in the US. In Alabama, specifically, abortions are now only allowed if the mother's physical health is in serious jeopardy. Her mental health, however, and that of her unborn child are rarely considered.
"A woman meets a man, starts a relationship, wants a family. She comes to your hospital so pregnant that her belly is huge. She hasn't come before because she has no car. Her man works long days, paid cash for his labor. Turns out the baby has no brain, no skull. Only a stem. This condition has no survivors. None," the doctor began.
"You wait for the patient to break the silence. The baby's heartbeat trots through the monitors while you softly hold her gaze. Her eyes plead with you. End it. You talk to the obstetricians, because eventually it will end. But nobody will do it. Not in this state. Not in this hospital. And so, the mother goes home, pregnant and grieving."
"Gently, the baby dies. He is warm, whole, and not alone. There are no doughnuts at the nurses' station that night as this young mother is wheeled to a room in the back corner of labor and delivery, away from the other mothers and their pink, crying babies. She will walk out of the hospital with breasts swollen and weeping for her dead child. Her hips loose and large will force her pants to tug. She will struggle with her gait for weeks, punctuating loss in the waddle of each step, until, gradually, she retires her maternity pants and her steps become firm, upright, and forward," the essay continues.
"You've done this before, cared for women whose wishes were warped by politics. You've commanded millions of health care dollars on behalf of infants born with fatal diagnoses. You've seen these infants cut, lanced, and battered in the name of intensive care. Do everything. Because who does not want to save her child? Sometimes all we can control is our grief. The middle-of-the-night pangs for a world where motherhood means potty training and muddy cleats. Sometimes the idea of choice is just a lie. And sometimes all you can provide is compassion. Dignity in grief is the gift. You've enabled false hopes, not for cures but for time to bond, hope, and heal. It is the parents you are healing. The hopes false. All these children died in the end."
Per CNN, a Californian woman has been charged with murder after giving birth to a stillborn baby which was found to have toxic levels of methamphetamine in its system.
25-year-old Chelsea Cheyenne Becker reportedly gave birth on September 10th, but her child had already passed away.
Doctors surmised that Becker was using meth while she was pregnant, which may have killed the baby.
The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy by the Kings County Coroner's Office discovered methamphetamine in the child's system. Police arrested the 25-year-old on Tuesday night on a felony charge of first-degree murder, and she was booked into the Kings County Jail in Hanford the following day, with bail set at $5 million. According to CNN, Becker pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Detective Sgt. Justin Vallin of the Hanford police department said, "The levels of methamphetamine in this baby's system were such high levels, even for an adult, so we believe that she was using almost the entire time that she was pregnant," when speaking to KGPE.
Investigators claim that she admitted to used meth throughout her pregnancy right up until she was due to give birth.
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Three of Becker's other children were also born with methamphetamine in their systems, and per the publication she has lost custody of several children due to her issues with substance abuse.
Becker's aunt, Julie Lance, reportedly adopted her three-year-old son, and has custody of her one-year-old. Her eldest child, who is four-years-old, has also been adopted. Speaking about the situation at hand, her cousin, Terra Ordonez, expressed hope that Becker will enter recovery.
"I'm excited for her to straighten up and get clean because I know she's smart enough to get out of it," she asserted. "It's an eye-opener for a lot of women who are struggling. If you're pregnant, scream for help."
A Colorado mother has been charged with second-degree murder months after her 16-year-old daughter was found dead inside their home with 173 empty alcohol bottles in her bedroom, according to prosecutors.
Gretchen Leanne Ryan, 55, was arrested after investigators alleged she repeatedly supplied alcohol and marijuana to her daughter, Grace Elizabeth Ryan, despite the teenager suffering severe health problems linked to alcohol abuse.
Grace was found unresponsive at the family's home in Arvada on the morning of March 9 and was pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors said digital evidence and text messages gathered during the investigation painted a troubling picture of the months leading up to her death.
Gretchen Leanne Ryan has been charged with second-degree murder. Credit: Jefferson County District Attorney's Office
Text messages revealed worsening health
According to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office, messages between Grace and her mother showed the teenager had been vomiting blood, struggling to eat, having difficulty walking, and wearing diapers because of her condition.
Investigators also alleged Grace repeatedly expressed fears she was going to die and asked for help.
Days before her death, she texted her mother (obtained by The Denver Post): "If you’re going to do this to me you need to take me to a hospital."
Court documents also allege Ryan replied by encouraging her daughter to smoke marijuana instead of drinking.
In another exchange from January, Ryan wrote: "I’m committing child abuse and murder."
She continued: "And I will go to prison. So we have to do something it is really bad. Do you understand? Vomiting blood is a really bad sign. Look it up. I probably should tell (redacted) and take you to the hospital. Are you reading these? Hello!!!’... Respond!!!!!!!!!! Do you want to die? If (redacted) saw you he’d freak out. Quit ignoring me."
On the night before she died, Grace reportedly texted her mother saying she felt sick. Authorities said her final outgoing message was sent from her iPad at 10:07PM.
Grace Elizabeth Ryan. Credit: Aspen Mortuaries
Investigators found 173 empty bottles
Authorities said the iPad was discovered beside Grace's body in the bathroom the following morning. Prosecutors said 911 was not called until around 8:15AM.
When officers arrived, Ryan was allegedly slurring her words and told detectives, "I feel like I killed her," according to the arrest warrant.
Investigators also reported finding 173 empty alcohol bottles under Grace's bed and inside her closet. Court documents state Ryan later told police that she and her daughter each drank about a bottle of vodka every day and that Grace vomited from drinking at least once a week.
The affidavit also said Grace had texted a friend a week before her death that she was an alcoholic and wanted to get sober.
Autopsy revealed alcohol related complications
An autopsy concluded that Grace died from aspiration pneumonia related to chronic alcohol use. The report also found she had an abnormally fatty liver, which investigators believed resulted from prolonged alcohol consumption.
Prosecutors said Grace had been withdrawn from public high school in April 2025 to attend online classes, but completed only one semester and did not take part in activities outside the home.
Ryan is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $500,000 cash only bond. Her next court appearance is scheduled for July 16. She has not yet entered a plea, and it is unclear whether she has retained an attorney.
Featured image credit: Jefferson County District Attorney's Office
In an unprecedented move, an Alabama judge is allowing a man to sue a clinic because his ex-girlfriend terminated her pregnancy without his consent. The incident took place in February 2017, when he was 19 and she was 16, The Independent reports. (The age of consent in Alabama is 16.) At the time she terminated the pregnancy, she was six weeks along, making the embryo about the size of a sweet pea. Now, for the first time in United States history, a probate court has recognized an aborted fetus as a person with rights.
In court documents filed on March 6 by Ryan Magers, he claims that he begged his ex-girlfriend to carry the pregnancy to term and give birth. She refused and opted to terminate the pregnancy by taking the so-called "abortion pill," which is actually two pills, containing mifepristone and misoprostol. The wrongful death lawsuit names both the Alabama Women's Center and the pharmaceutical company that made the medication.
In the filings, the fetus is referred to as "Baby Roe," a reference to Roe v. Wade, in which the US Supreme Court rejected the notion that a fetus is a person. But despite the ruling, three states have put "personhood" laws to a vote. Voters in Colorado and Mississippi rejected the measure, but voters in Alabama did not.
"I'm here for the men who actually want to have their baby," Mager explained to ABC 31. "I just tried to plead with her and plead with her and just talk to her about it and see what I could do, but in the end, there was nothing I could do to change her mind... I believe every child from conception is a baby and deserves to live."
"Ryan was all about family," Mager's lawyer, J. Brent Helms, told Refinery 29. "He took on extra jobs to be able to pay for the birth of Baby Roe. He doesn't know why she didn’t want to go through with the pregnancy."
Hannah Ford, a spokesperson for the anti-abortion group Personhood Alabama who is assisting with the lawsuit, issued a statement claiming Baby Roe "was cruelly robbed of life and silenced before entering the world or being able to personally voice complaint in court."
The case has alarmed reproductive rights groups, who are concerned the "personhood" movement might spread. On Twitter, Ilyse Hogue, the president of Naral Pro-Choice America, called the case "very scary" because it "asserts woman's rights third in line," behind the man who impregnates her and the dead fetus. Salon writer Amanda Marcotte agreed, saying any man who "vetoes" an abortion is "not fit to be a father or a partner. Any such man is by definition, an abuser."
Those concerns are shared by Elizabeth Nash, the senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports reproductive rights. "This man was unable to force his girlfriend to continue a pregnancy and so he’s taking an extreme action to exert control," she told Refinery 29. And speaking with The Independent, she explained, "[This case] has the potential to be used in other states, and it’s part of abortion opponents being emboldened... and conservatives turning over every rock to see how they can ban abortion."
Mager's lawyer said the case could start a legal precedent that leads to the end of abortion in Alabama. However, law professors like Lucinda Finley from the University of Buffalo aren't so sure. She told The Cut that a wrongful death must be a "legally wrongful act in order to have a successful claim."
"In this case, the clinic that provided an abortion that the woman wanted and consented to did not perform any wrongful act," she said. "A third party who injures a pregnant woman and thereby ends her wanted pregnancy against her will is a vastly different situation than a woman who decides to end her own pregnancy."
A 28-year-old Florida woman has been arrested after giving birth to an 11-year-old's baby at the age of 22.
Marissa Mowry pled guilty to the crime which took place in January 2014 when she was working as the boy's live-in nanny. In October of that year, she gave birth to the 11-year-old's son and has now been sentenced to 20 years behind bars for sexual battery.
In the video below, a Florida man hits a female public defender in the side of the head in court:
However, it was not until after the child's birth that the boy's parents discovered that he'd been impregnated by his nanny.
According to the boy, he was abused by Mowry at least 15 times over a period lasting several months.
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Despite Mowry giving birth to his child in October 2017, he did not report her to authorities until 2017, which is what led to her arrest.
The victim, who is now 17, was present for Mowry's sentencing with their child and his mother.
Prior to striking a plea deal, Mowry had been facing life imprisonment for her crimes. The plea deal included registering as a sex offender on her eventual release from prison.
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Opening up about the crime to WFLA, the boy's mother spoke of her betrayal at the discovery of the abuse.
"I thought of her almost [Mowry] as a second daughter," she stated.
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Before the abuse was discovered, the family had visited Mowry in the hospital and a disturbing picture of the 11-year-old and his baby was taken.
"It cost my son his childhood," she concluded. "He's not going to know his teen years like a normal teenager."
Now, the victim is in his senior year of high school and having to juggle his academic responsibilities with looking after a five-year-old.
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