Linda C. Fentiman - Blaming Mothers: American Law and the Risks to Children’s Health

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Blaming Mothers: American Law and the Risks to Childrens Health

Linda C. Fentiman

Linda C. Fentiman

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

New York

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

New York

www.nyupress.org

2017 by New York University

All rights reserved

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Fentiman, Linda C., 1949 author.

Title: Blaming mothers : American law and the risks to childrens health / Linda C. Fentiman.

Other titles: Families, law, and society series.

Description: New York : New York University Press, [2016] | Series: Families, law, and society series | Also available as an ebook. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016041759| ISBN 9780814724828 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 0814724825 (cl : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Child abuseLaw and legislationUnited States. | Mother and childUnited States. | MothersLegal status, laws, etc.United States. | Pregnant womenLegal status, laws, etc.United States. | ChildrenHealth and hygieneUnited States. | Health risk assessmentUnited States.

Classification: LCC KF9323 .F46 2016 | DDC 362.1083/0973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016041759

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,

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We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials

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Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Also available as an ebook

This book is dedicated to those

who showed me what it means to be a parent

and why it matters

My mother and father,

Janet Ralph Fentiman Crandell and Donald Sidney Fentiman

My husband,

Arthur Elliott Levine

and

My daughters,

Jamie Sloan Fentiman Levine and Rachel Elizabeth Fentiman Levine

This book would not have been possible without the generosity of time and spirit of many talented individuals. To my editors, Deborah Gershenowitz and Clara Platter, I owe great thanksto Debby for helping me conceptualize the project and to Clara for helping bring it to fruition. Many colleaguesBridget Crawford, Nancy Dowd, Debby Denno, Fran Miller, Wendy Parmet, and Liz Rapaportgave generously of their time, reading many drafts of my proposal and book chapters along the way. Others shared their expertise and insights in the specialized fields of medicine, psychology, and law in which they teach and practice, often reading multiple drafts of chapters and articles and offering invaluable counsel that made this a much better book. This very long list includes Carol Anderson, Noa Ben Asher, Susan Bandes, Adele Bernhard, Anne Bloom, Kathleen Boozang, Melissa Breger, Bennett Capers, Martha Chamallas, Georganne Chapin, Elena Cohen, Karl Coplan, Bernard Dickens, Joshua Dressler, Dorothy Ehrlich, Joseph Espo, Gretchen Flint, Leslie Garfield, Lissa Griffin, Jill Gross, Elaine Heffner, Diana Hortsch, Peter Jacobson, Desiree Kennedy, Ellis Levine, Tom McDonnell, Michelle Oberman, Kathleen OConnell, Lynn Paltrow, Patti Peppin, Phillipe Pierre, Ann Powers, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Marc Rodwin, Sanda Rodgers, Audrey Rogers, Susan Rozelle, Carol Sanger, Renata Schiavo, Janet Severson, Ross Silverman, Jill Sowards, Scott Smith, Deborah Spitalnik, Julia Spring, Audrey Stone, Stephanie Toti, Emily Gold Waldman, Jessica Waters, and Kelly Weisberg.

Pace Law School Deans Michelle Simon and David Yassky and Associate Deans for Research Bridget Crawford and Andrew Lund were incredibly supportive of my research. Associate Deans Horace Anderson and Jeff Miller made it possible for me to carry out my teaching responsibilities and find the needed time to write. My faculty assistants, Jennifer Chin and Kathleen Lambert, have been simply amazing, always going above and beyond the call of duty, helping with all manner of editing, formatting, and researching tasks. The law librarians at Pace Law School, under the extraordinary leadership of Marie Newman, were always knowledgeable and helpful; I give special thanks to Alyson Carney, Vicky Gannon, Jack McNeil, Margaret Moreland, and Cynthia Pittson.

I also want to thank Nancy Northrup and the Center for Reproductive Rights, who gave me a place to think and write during a sabbatical, and to the many friends at conferences who shared their latest research and insights with me. Special thanks go to the participants at the Pace faculty 10/10 research sessions, Fordham University students in Debby Dennos Advanced Criminal Law Seminar, and faculty participants at colloquia sponsored by Albany Law School and the Touro Law Center.

Portions of this book are derived from my previously published articles: The New Fetal Protection: The Wrong Answer to the Crisis of Inadequate Health Care for Women and Children, 84 Denver University Law Review 537 (2006); Pursuing the Perfect Mother: Why Americas Criminalization of Maternal Substance Abuse Is Not the Answer, 15 Michigan Journal of Gender & Law 389 (2009); In the Name of Fetal Protection: Why American Prosecutors Pursue Pregnant Drug Users (and Other Countries Dont), 18 Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 647 (2009); Marketing Mothers Milk: The Commodification of Breastfeeding and the New Markets for Human Milk and Infant Formula, 10 Nevada Law Journal 29 (2009); Rethinking Addiction: Drugs, Deterrence, and the Neuroscience Revolution, 14 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 233 (2011); Are Mothers Hazardous to Their Childrens Health: Law, Culture, and the Framing of Risk, 21 Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 295 (2014); and Sex, Science, and the Age of Anxiety, 92 Nebraska Law Review 455 (2014). I am grateful to the editors of these journals for their questions, suggestions, and zealous Bluebooking.