The Informed Consent Coalition
New York State
Families need support, not surveillance and separation.
Substance use affects people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds at largely equal rates, but Black and Brown people are unfairly targeted. In New York, Black and Brown pregnant people and their newborns are being tested for drugs without their knowledge or informed consent. A positive drug test might be reported to CPS and result in newborns being separated from their mothers and fed into the foster system, which has well-documented, long-lasting and harmful consequences spanning generations. We must dismantle and divest from systems that unfairly target and criminalize Black and Brown people.
From 2018-2022, MFP was a steering committee member of the Informed Consent Coalition with JMacforFamilies, Drug Policy Alliance (NY), the Bronx Defenders, and numerous other organizations and agitators, from directly impacted pregnant and parenting people to radical doula collectives and community health organizations. MFP continues to participate in the coalition to deepen advocacy around this important issue.
The coalition works to:
Raise awareness about the injustice of drug testing pregnant people, new parents, and their infants without informed consent, and the feeding of children into the family regulation system.
Create a shared understanding of unconsented drug testing; and
Increase alignment on values and messaging by deepening the engagement and investment of new and existing movement leaders.