Thousands of American mothers have been wrongly flagged to police over flawed drug tests administered at childbirth, according to a new investigation by The Marshall Project. The data reveals that in 21 states, tens of thousands of cases were referred to law enforcement agencies due to false positives from faulty tests.
In many instances, the referrals began with prescription medications prescribed to pregnant women, which can trigger false positive results on drug tests. These medications include painkillers, sedatives, and even CBD products. Women have been arrested, charged, and even forced to surrender their newborns after being wrongly accused of using illicit substances during pregnancy.
One woman, Ayanna Harris-Rashid, was sitting up in bed with her newborn son when police called, telling her she was wanted on a felony charge of child neglect due to a false positive test. She had used CBD gummies and a topical hemp-based ointment throughout her pregnancy to ease nausea and pain.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered to her newborn son before being handcuffed and strip-searched by police. Her milk supply decreased, and she could no longer breastfeed after being held in a cold and crowded cell overnight.
The investigation found that the referrals to law enforcement are happening at an alarming rate, with over 70,000 cases referred nationwide. Many of these women were not charged or prosecuted but were still subjected to traumatic encounters with police.
"The states that are doing these automatic referrals, that makes the women in those states incredibly vulnerable," said Dana Sussman, senior vice president of Pregnancy Justice. "It opens the door – even when there's no basis in law – to actually bring these prosecutions."
Experts argue that the flawed drug tests and automatic referrals to law enforcement are ineffective in addressing substance use during pregnancy. Instead, they can lead to poorer health outcomes for women and their babies.
"We always try to err on the side of the baby," said Lt. Larry Williams of the Loris Police Department in South Carolina. "My level of proof is, is it more likely than not? Is there probable cause enough to believe that you did this?"
The data collected by The Marshall Project shows a stark disparity between states that automatically refer reports of positive tests to law enforcement and those that do not.
"The stockpiling of information like that is concerning, even if no one is acting on it in the near term," said University of California Davis law professor Mary Ziegler. "It's literally about punishing people who are pregnant."
As anti-abortion activists push for fetal personhood protections, the referrals to law enforcement raise questions about the constitutionality and necessity of these policies.
"The pass-through from child welfare to law enforcement is essentially a form of punishment," said Sussman.
In many instances, the referrals began with prescription medications prescribed to pregnant women, which can trigger false positive results on drug tests. These medications include painkillers, sedatives, and even CBD products. Women have been arrested, charged, and even forced to surrender their newborns after being wrongly accused of using illicit substances during pregnancy.
One woman, Ayanna Harris-Rashid, was sitting up in bed with her newborn son when police called, telling her she was wanted on a felony charge of child neglect due to a false positive test. She had used CBD gummies and a topical hemp-based ointment throughout her pregnancy to ease nausea and pain.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered to her newborn son before being handcuffed and strip-searched by police. Her milk supply decreased, and she could no longer breastfeed after being held in a cold and crowded cell overnight.
The investigation found that the referrals to law enforcement are happening at an alarming rate, with over 70,000 cases referred nationwide. Many of these women were not charged or prosecuted but were still subjected to traumatic encounters with police.
"The states that are doing these automatic referrals, that makes the women in those states incredibly vulnerable," said Dana Sussman, senior vice president of Pregnancy Justice. "It opens the door – even when there's no basis in law – to actually bring these prosecutions."
Experts argue that the flawed drug tests and automatic referrals to law enforcement are ineffective in addressing substance use during pregnancy. Instead, they can lead to poorer health outcomes for women and their babies.
"We always try to err on the side of the baby," said Lt. Larry Williams of the Loris Police Department in South Carolina. "My level of proof is, is it more likely than not? Is there probable cause enough to believe that you did this?"
The data collected by The Marshall Project shows a stark disparity between states that automatically refer reports of positive tests to law enforcement and those that do not.
"The stockpiling of information like that is concerning, even if no one is acting on it in the near term," said University of California Davis law professor Mary Ziegler. "It's literally about punishing people who are pregnant."
As anti-abortion activists push for fetal personhood protections, the referrals to law enforcement raise questions about the constitutionality and necessity of these policies.
"The pass-through from child welfare to law enforcement is essentially a form of punishment," said Sussman.
. I'm so tired of these flawed drug tests causing innocent women to be messed with by the system. It's not just about the CBD products or painkillers, it's about how easily these tests can turn into false positives. And then there are all these cases where women get arrested and charged with child neglect? 
That's not justice, that's just plain cruel.
I don't think so.
On the other hand, I've also seen those CBD products and how some women use them for legit reasons, not just to get high or whatever... shouldn't we be looking at the bigger picture here and making sure we're supporting these women instead of penalizing them? Ugh, my mind is all over the place on this one 
This just breaks my heart reading all these stories of new mums being arrested and forced to give up their babies because of faulty drug tests 
.
. And it's not just the women who are affected – their babies are too, because they're being taken away from the only person who can care for them properly 
.
. It's just not right, you know? 
being wrongly accused and arrested just because they took some prescription meds or used CBD products during pregnancy. It's not like they were trying to hide anything, you know? And can you even imagine having your newborn taken away from you because of a false positive test? 
It's just insane.
. The investigation says that these referrals can lead to poorer health outcomes for both moms and kids. I mean, what's the point of even testing them if it's just going to cause more harm? 
.
.
And it's not like they're even being charged or prosecuted in most cases, but still... the trauma is there.
. She was just trying to take care of herself and her newborn son.
it's crazy that ppl r gettin wrongly accused of using illicit substances durin pregnancy just cuz they took some meds 
4 pain or nausea 
. CBD products even! 
it's like, what's next? arrestin people 4 havin a healthy baby? 
no, this is just plain scary. we gotta make shure these flawed tests get replaced ASAP 
and we need better laws in place to protect pregnant women from false positives. 
maybe instead of punishin moms, we shud be supportin them n getting 'em the help they need 
. CBD products are not even controlled substances in most states yet, but they're still getting flagged? 
According to The Marshall Project's data:
.
.
. And now we're seeing experts arguing that these flawed drug tests and automatic referrals to law enforcement are actually counterproductive when it comes to addressing substance use during pregnancy.