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“Baby safe haven” laws, which allow a parent to relinquish anewborn baby legally and anonymously at a specified institutional location—suchas a hospital or fire station—were established in every state between 1999 and2009. Promoted during a time of heated public debate over policies on abortion,sex education, teen pregnancy, adoption, welfare, immigrant reproduction, andchild abuse, safe haven laws were passed by the majority of states with littlecontest. These laws were thought to offer a solution tothe consequences of unwanted pregnancies: mothers would no longer beburdened with children they could not care for, and newborn babies would nolonger be abandoned in dumpsters.Yet while these laws are well meaning, they ignore the real problem: somewomen lack key social and economic supports that mothers need to raisechildren. Safe haven laws do little to help disadvantaged women. Instead,advocates of safe haven laws target teenagers, women of color, and poor womenwith safe haven information and see relinquishing custody of their newborns asan act of maternal love. Disadvantaged women are preemptively judged as “bad”mothers whose babies would be better off without them.Laury Oaks argues that the labeling of certain kinds ofwomen as potential “bad” mothers who should consider anonymously giving uptheir newborns for adoption into a “loving” home should best be understood asan issue of reproductive justice. Safe haven discourses promote narrow imagesof who deserves to be a mother and reflect restrictive views on how we shouldtreat women experiencing unwanted pregnancy.
Abandoned children -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States. --- Abandoned children -- United States. --- Adoption -- Law and legislation -- United States. --- Adoption -- United States. --- Birthmothers -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States. --- Birthmothers -- United States. --- Abandoned children --- Birthmothers --- Adoption --- Social Welfare & Social Work --- Social Sciences --- Social Welfare & Social Work - General --- Birth mothers --- Birthparents --- Mothers --- Children, Abandoned --- Exposed children --- Homeless children --- Legal status, laws, etc --- Law and legislation --- LAW / Child Advocacy. --- United States. --- Legal status, laws, etc. --- United States --- Child placing --- Foster home care --- Parent and child
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The 1966 edition of the medical textbook states that pregnant women can safely smoke half a pack of cigarettes a day. Yet today, women who smoke during pregnancy are among the most villified figures in public health campaigns. Laury Oaks argues this shift is not due solely to medical findings indicating that cigarette smoking may harm the foetus. Also responsible are a variety of social factors that converged more than a decade ago to construct the demonized category of the "pregnant smoker". This book charts the emergence of smoking during pregnancy as a public health concern and social problem. Oaks looks at the emphasis public health educators place on individual responsibility, the current legal and social assertion of foetal personhood, and the advent of antismoking campaigns. She explores how public health educators discuss "the problem" with one another, how they communicate with pregnant smokers, and how these women themselves understand the "risk" of foetal harm. Finally, Oaks discusses the various meanings of "objective" statistics on the effects of smoking on the foetus, exploring the significance of cultural context in assessing the relative importance of those numbers.She argues that rather than bombarding pregnant women with statistics, health educators should consider the daily lives of these women and their socioeconomic status to understand why some women choose to smoke during pregnancy. Without downplaying the seriousness of the health risks that smoking poses to women and their babies, the book supports new efforts that challenge the moral policing of pregnant smokers. The 1966 edition of this text stated that pregnant women can safely smoke half a pack of cigarettes a day. Now, women who smoke during pregnancy are among the most villified figures in public health campaigns. This book charts the emergence of smoking during pregnancy as a public health concern.
Fetus --- Pregnant women --- Pregnant women --- Smoking --- Tobacco --- Effect of Tobacco on --- Social aspects --- Physiology --- Social aspects --- Tobacco use --- Social aspects --- Health aspects --- Physiological effect --- Social aspects
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