Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 Source: The Post and Courier (SC) Copyright: 2001 Evening Post Publishing Co Contact: http://www.charleston.net/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567 Author: Associated Press HIGH COURT HEARS CASE OF STILLBORN'S CRACK DEATH COLUMBIA - A state Supreme Court case expected to decide whether mothers could be prosecuted for taking drugs while in the late stages of pregnancy focused instead on legal technicalities during arguments Wednesday. The lawyer for Brenda Peppers, who pleaded guilty in 1999 to killing her stillborn child by taking crack cocaine, wanted to argue that the law she was prosecuted under is unconstitutional. But justices instead questioned both sides on whether Peppers could include a condition in her plea agreement allowing her to take her case to the high court. "How can we do anything but send this matter back for a retrial or re- plea?" Chief Justice Jean Toal said to Assistant Attorney General Harold M. Coombs Jr. "She made the conditional plea and (case precedent) says we can't allow that. How do we get around that?" Coombs argued that nothing has changed legally since the state Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that women could be prosecuted under child abuse laws if they harmed an unborn child able to live outside the womb. The court also ruled that a viable fetus is a child and holds certain rights. Peppers' lawyer, C. Rauch Wise, said that ruling opens the door to mothers being prosecuted for more than just smoking crack. "Once you accept that premise, then it's anything that has potential for harming a child, a viable fetus, that could be prosecuted - that includes gaining too much weight, that includes a diabetic woman who gets pregnant," Wise said. Wise also questioned whether women could be accused of child abuse after smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol. Opponents of South Carolina's decision to prosecute mothers who use cocaine say the practice is rooted in bad science from the "crack baby" phenomenon of the 1980s. Recent studies show using cocaine is about as harmful on a fetus as cigarette smoking and less harmful than heavy drinking, said Dr. Deborah A. Frank, an associate professor of pediatrics at Boston University and author of a study on the topic published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Frank calls South Carolina's prosecution of mothers who abuse drugs "irresponsible public health policy" and said it could mean an increase in infant mortality as addicted women avoid prenatal care because they fear prosecution. "Anything that frightens people away from health care is dangerous," Frank said. Attorney General Charlie Condon listened to the arguments and thinks the 1997 decision allowing mothers to be prosecuted will be upheld. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth