NY Cases Underline Harms of Drug Testing During Pregnancy

This article was published by Filter Magazine.

Families of color are disproportionately separated by child protective systems. And Black people are tested at far higher rates than white people during pregnancy. The consequences include broken trust in doctors, which can discourage people from seeking prenatal treatment, putting their lives at risk.

“Black birthing people are three times as likely to die as white,” jasmine Sankofa, executive director of the Movement for Family Power, told Filter. She described a slew of potential nightmares if someone’s drug test is positive, from having their baby and other kids taken away, to incarceration. And for what?