Hot Topic (4/13): Should it be illegal for women to smoke while pregnant?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

Do you think it should be illegal for women to smoke while pregnant? 

Do you think smoking is harmful to the unborn baby?

 

A proposal to ban smoking by women who are pregnant got a boost when Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee -- who signed a law banning smoking in a car when children are present -- endorsed the concept, saying that it makes sense from a health point of view. 

The law would be designed to protect the health of the fetus and to reduce the huge costs of treating babies born prematurely and/or with birth defects caused by maternal smoking.


Law professor John Banzhaf, who has successfully led a movement which has spread smoking bans outdoors, into private homes (in custody cases and where foster children live), into apartments (when neighbors complain), and into cars (when children are present), says expanding it into wombs would be constitutional.

A law like this would inevitably lead to restrictions on many other activities by pregnant women.

To those who argue that a ban on smoking by pregnant women would constitute an invasion of her constitutional right of privacy, Banzhaf notes that her so-called privacy rights are inextricably bound up with the right of the child not to be subjected to dangerous unnecessary health risks, if not death itself.

Also, he notes, there are many other situations in which governments impose restrictions on what many would regard as strictly private choices. These include wearing seat belts or motorcycles helmets, refraining from using many drugs, even by the terminally ill, the right to "death with dignity," etc.

Finally, says Banzhaf, some have suggested that a woman's constitutional right to choose an abortion means that she has a right to inflict harm or risk to the fetus because that's less serious than killing it. But the Supreme Court has said that the right to an abortion exists only so that a woman can avoid the pain and problems of having a child. "Once a women has chosen to give birth rather than to abort, she has no constitutional right to endanger the fetus' health," argues Banzhaf.

"Reasonable people may disagree with Gov. Huckabee's view that a law banning smoking by pregnant women would be desirable or even feasible, but it seems reasonably clear that, if enacted, such a law would be constitutional and withstand any challenge in the courts," predicts Prof. Banzhaf.

 

What do you think?

 

[tericared]

I do think it is harmful to the baby, but against the law? No it is her body and her baby....

[nateandlo]

yes, it should be against the law it ceased to be just your body when you decided to get pregnant or decided not to take preventative measures to not get pregnant.  This baby did not ask to be born and a person should not be so selfish as to bring a child in this world (if the baby gets that far) with a strike against them (health wise).

[.Tiggeroo87.]

Yes. If my mom didn't smoke when she was pregnant with me, I wouldn't have been born with Asthma and have so much allergies.

I don't care about the woman's body issue too much, but smoking is something I am very against. I grew up around having to be pressured into smoking, I've seen what the side effects are from my dumb younger cousins who decided to smoke, and I think it's just selfish. More selfish than deciding to get an abortion. Honestly, I would much rather a woman abort if she's going to smoke, that baby did not ask to have a stupid, selfish nitwit for a mom, so I don't think that it's very fair that a woman can do that...

But it will never happen, but I answered anyway because I hate smoke, and I hate cigarettes.

[mandiemae12523]

No, its her body her choice!!  Had smoking not made me horribly sick durning my pregnancies I feel I would have had a hard time with quiting!!  

[Katie911]

I don't think that it should be illegal.  It's her body, her baby, her choice.  IF she chooses to smoke while pregnant and make that poor baby put up with all that crap she is putting into her body, that's her choice.  I personally think anyone who smokes is an idiot, but anyone who smokes while pregnant is just wrong.

[fullofhope325]

Nope.

[Mommy_of_Riley]

You can't make everything that could be harmful illegal.  What is this country coming to?

When my sister was pregnant she was told NOT to quit smoking.  She used to smoke like crazy (like a pack a day) and she found out she was pregnant when she was already 4 months along.  The doctor told her cut back as much as possible but not completely quit because it could cause withdrawl in the fetus and make her and the baby sick.  She cut back to 1 or 2 cigarettes a day (sometimes none!) and my nephew was born perfectly healthy and is still healthy today.

[mandygm]

No. I feel strongly against it, but if we start making laws forbidding smoking, then that's giving the government rights over our bodies, too me that's a big no no. If a woman wants to be a complete idiot, its her prerogative! I feel bad for the child, but hey.. its her child. Its just like telling a woman who is overweight, eating improperly, and has gestational diabetes its illegal to have a donut! Everyone has the freedom of personal choice! 

[.Tiggeroo87.]

Not everyone is lucky.

I was born with asthma, a list of allergies, and eczema. I outgrew the eczema and asthma by the time I turned 12, but I am still allergic to:

dust

fresh cut grass

cat hair

strawberries/tomatos

mushrooms

chocolate

certain soaps and laundry detergents

Aspirin (yes just the name brand, I can stomach generic brand ibuprofen)

and latex

My mom never smoked as much as your sister either. A couple of smokes here and there.

Quoting Mommy_of_Riley:

You can't make everything that could be harmful illegal.  What is this country coming to?

When my sister was pregnant she was told NOT to quit smoking.  She used to smoke like crazy (like a pack a day) and she found out she was pregnant when she was already 4 months along.  The doctor told her cut back as much as possible but not completely quit because it could cause withdrawl in the fetus and make her and the baby sick.  She cut back to 1 or 2 cigarettes a day (sometimes none!) and my nephew was born perfectly healthy and is still healthy today.

[Mommy_of_Riley]

And not everyone with those allergies had a mom who smoked. 
My mom was the perfect picture of a healthy person and I was born with Asthma Bronchitis. 
I am allergic to:
evergreen trees (cedar is the worst)
tomatoes
Penicillin and the whole -cillin family
medical tape
local anesthetics
acetaminophen (which is in Tylenol, NyQuil, and a TON of other things)

etc.

You don't really know if the smoking is what cause those things.  Sorry....  it's just not possible to know 100% for sure what causes most allergies in people...

Quoting .Tiggeroo87.:

Not everyone is lucky.

I was born with asthma, a list of allergies, and eczema. I outgrew the eczema and asthma by the time I turned 12, but I am still allergic to:

dust

fresh cut grass

cat hair

strawberries/tomatos

mushrooms

chocolate

certain soaps and laundry detergents

Aspirin (yes just the name brand, I can stomach generic brand ibuprofen)

and latex

My mom never smoked as much as your sister either. A couple of smokes here and there.

Quoting Mommy_of_Riley:

You can't make everything that could be harmful illegal.  What is this country coming to?

When my sister was pregnant she was told NOT to quit smoking.  She used to smoke like crazy (like a pack a day) and she found out she was pregnant when she was already 4 months along.  The doctor told her cut back as much as possible but not completely quit because it could cause withdrawl in the fetus and make her and the baby sick.  She cut back to 1 or 2 cigarettes a day (sometimes none!) and my nephew was born perfectly healthy and is still healthy today.