National Advocates for Pregnant Women mourns the death of George Floyd and the death of every Black person murdered by police forces in the United States. We recognize the systemic problem of police brutality and join the Black Lives Matter movement in calling for immediate and radical change.
In NAPW's study, Arrests of and Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women in the United States, 1973-2005: Implications for Women's Legal Status and Public Health, Jeanne Flavin and Lynn M. Paltrow documented the fact that an overwhelming and disproportionate number of arrests and detentions were brought against women of color and especially low-income Black women.
NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Amber Khan and Director of Legal Advocacy Nancy Rosenbloom attended and spoke at this year’s American Bar Association National Conference on Parent Representation in Washington, D.C. in April 2019. This conference “is designed for advocates who focus on parent advocacy in the child welfare system”, including many parent defense attorneys from around the country.
In December 2018, NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Amber Khan delivered a presentation to the AIDS Institute’s state-wide Women Who Use Drugs Workgroup, part of the New York State Department of Health, on the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and its connection to pregnancy and drug use.
After moderating a related panel at the New School, NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Aarin Williams published a piece entitled “Child Welfare and the Intended Consequences of the War on Drugs” in the May 16, 2018 issue of Urban Matters: Ideas and Analysis from the Center for New York City Affairs.
On March 13th, NAPW Senior Staff Attorney Aarin Williams moderated a panel discussion co-hosted by the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP) and The New School Center for NYC Affairs entitled: “Child Welfare: The Unintended Consequence of the War on Drugs.
In November 2017, NAPW's Executive Director Lynn Paltrow presented at the Maternal and Child Health Town Hall session at the 2017 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo in Atlanta, GA. During this session, Lynn Paltrow spoke about substance use and supporting the needs of pregnant women and the well-being of children and families.
In October, NAPW staff traveled to Alabama and Georgia to connect with local advocates and allies and speak about our work advocating for the human and civil rights of pregnant people. In Tuscaloosa, AL, Nancy Rosenbloom (Director of Legal Advocacy) and Aarin Williams (Senior Staff Attorney) presented a teach-in organized by the Yellowhammer Fund about the chemical endangerment law in Alabama and the criminalization and punishment of people in relationship to pregnancy.
En este video, las madres que han batallado con el uso de drogas y sus hijos reflexionan sobre sus vidas y responden a Project Prevention, un programa que ofrece $300 a personas que usan o usaban drogas, para que se esterilicen o usan métodos de anticoncepción de acción prolongada.
