State Policy Variation in Implementation of Federal Drug and Child Abuse Laws and Stigmatization of Pregnant and Postpartum Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder.

Abstract

Importance: Despite increased initiatives and funding to improve access to evidence-based treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD), including medications for OUD (mOUD), pregnant/postpartum individuals have significant obstacles to accessing these life-saving medications. Observations: Current legislation, specifically the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), mandates that the Governor of each state has systems in place to identify and address the needs of substance-exposed infants. However, this legislation removed the word "illegal" when defining substance use and left other important words in the law up to each individual state to define. These changes resulted in pregnant/postpartum individuals with OUD who were receiving legally prescribed mOUD, being subject to legal actions. In many states, such notifications result in investigation and punitive actions, which may include the removal of children from the care of postpartum individuals. These state policies have created additional barriers to accessing mOUD for pregnant and/or postpartum individuals. Research has demonstrated that pregnant individuals delay and/or avoid recommended prenatal care or decide to stop taking mOUD altogether, to prevent potential legal and child welfare-related consequences. This situation is problematic as it places individuals at risk of overdose and death and infants at risk of health complications. Importantly, such policies are subject to bias and disproportionately impact individuals of color and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Conclusions and Relevance: The need to address and change the criminalization of pregnant/postpartum substance use laws to not penalize individuals adhering to the recommended standard of evidence-based care is urgent. Specific recommendations include: not relying on toxicology testing, reinstating "illegal/non-prescribed" language in legislation, implementing Plans of Safe Care, use of a two "track" reporting system, and federal support for states complying with Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act Reauthorization of 2010 (CAPTA) laws, increasing resources to improve outcomes for infants/postpartum individuals with OUD, and additional mandated training to educate key individuals, such as hospital/outpatient clinic providers and child-welfare workers.