{"id":2263746,"date":"2024-06-10T08:13:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T12:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-removes-mandated-report-to-law-enforcement-of-positive-drug-tests-in-newborns\/"},"modified":"2024-06-10T08:20:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T12:20:42","slug":"bill-removes-mandated-report-to-law-enforcement-of-positive-drug-tests-in-newborns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-removes-mandated-report-to-law-enforcement-of-positive-drug-tests-in-newborns\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill eliminates requirement for reporting newborns&#8217; positive drug tests to police"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbill-removes-mandated-report-to-law-enforcement-of-positive-drug-tests-in-newborns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2263746&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Prenatal services, but drug treatment as well,\u201d said Castro<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Illinois legislature has passed a bill, Senate Bill 3136, that removes \u200dthe requirement \u2063for the\u200c Department\u2064 of Children and Family Services to report newborn babies&#8217; positive toxicology screens to law enforcement. \u2063If signed\u2062 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the bill will no longer punish drug-addicted birth mothers by\u2063 taking away their parental rights if their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/f-no-love-is-blind-cast-member-has-visceral-pro-life-reaction-when-fiance-talks-aborting-kids-with-special-needs\/\" title=\"\u2018F*** No\u2019: \u2018Love Is Blind\u2019 Cast Member Has Visceral Pro-Life Reaction When Fianc\u00e9 Talks Aborting Kids With Special Needs \u00a0\">baby tests positive<\/a> for drugs. Supporters of the bill argue that it will encourage drug-addicted \u2063mothers\u2062 to seek \u2063treatment \u2064without \u2063fear of legal repercussions, while opponents worry that it \u2064will undermine accountability for these mothers. The bill&#8217;s sponsor, State\u2063 Sen. Cristina Castro, hopes that it will \u200dincentivize pregnant women with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ron-desantis-reveals-health-status-of-wife-after-her-battle-with-cancer\/\" title=\"Ron DeSantis Reveals Health Status Of Wife After Her Battle With Cancer\">substance abuse disorders<\/a> to seek both prenatal services and drug treatment.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 The legislature is ready to send a bill to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker that removes the mandate that the Department of Children and Family Services must report newborn babies\u2019 positive toxicology screens to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Bill 3136 passed the Illinois General Assembly and will, according to opponents, disincentivize drug addicts from getting clean because it removes punitive provisions that take away birth mothers\u2019 parental rights upon a newborn baby\u2019s toxicology screen coming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/are-covid-case-surges-more-fake-news\/\" title=\"Are COVID Case Surges More Fake News?\">back positive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said the bill will actually deter drug addicts from seeking treatment. Opponents say allowing drug addicted mothers, who give birth to babies whose toxicology screens come back positive, to maintain their parental rights is not only dangerous but subverts accountability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are tools not to punish mom, but these are tools for the best interest of these children. This [punitive provision] is to help mom and motivate mom to get better.\u201d said McClure. \u201cI am sure everyone has heard of a child born with substance exposure, horrible health issues have arisen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After giving birth to a newborn with narcotics in their system, the birth mother can argue her fitness as a parent at several hearings in order to regain her parental rights.<\/p>\n<p>The bill\u2019s sponsor, state Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, introduced the legislation because numerous studies have shown women who suffer from substance abuse avoid care based on concerns that clinicians will report them to the authorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill will incentivize pregnant women who have substance-use disorders to seek out not only prenatal care but also seek out and stay in treatment recovery programs,\u201d she said. \u201cWe do this by lifting two punitive policies negatively affecting families with substance-use disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The measure amends state law to remove positive toxicology at birth as a basis for finding unfitness for the purpose of terminating parental rights and removes a provision from state law requiring the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to immediately report positive toxicology screens to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Castro said DCFS will continue to receive reports of babies who test positive for drugs at birth, but from there DCFS will determine the infant\u2019s safety and well being before sending the report to authorities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will not impact the court\u2019s ability to act when a child is being abused or neglected. If the child\u2019s care or environment is unsafe, the court may find the child is neglected based on the remaining provisions of the Juvenile Court Act,\u201d said Castro.<\/p>\n<p>Opponents argued that a baby testing positive for drugs at birth is proof the child is being neglected and abused and DCFS should be mandated to report that neglect and abuse to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said this bill isn\u2019t about pregnant women with a drug problem being in fear of seeking prenatal care because the only time authorities are alerted is when the baby is born with narcotics in his or her system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf that baby has been born with narcotics in their system and is addicted to drugs, the system should be activated. The system should be alerted because we as a society, it\u2019s our job to protect that child \u2026 end of story,\u201d said Rose.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly one in 12 newborns in the U.S. in 2020, or about 300,000 infants, were exposed to alcohol, opioids, marijuana or cocaine before they were born.<\/p>\n<p>SB3136 has yet to be sent to the governor for further action.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Illinois legislature is set to present Gov. J.B. Pritzker with a bill that would stop mandatory reporting of newborns&#8217; positive drug tests by the Department of Children and Family Services to police. Senate Bill 3136, which passed the General Assembly, is criticized for potentially discouraging drug addicts from seeking help<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2263746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2263746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2263746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2263746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}