To create a world that protects the dignity, integrity, and bodily autonomy of all families, we must end the surveillance and criminalization of perinatal people who use drugs.
The Problem: Test-and-Report
Healthcare providers are drug testing and screening perinatal people and their newborns without informed consent and reporting results to family policing agencies. This practice, commonly referred to as “test-and-report,” violates bodily autonomy, exposes families to the violence of forced family separation, and almost never leads to any connection to care or treatment.
Test-and-report harms newborns and parents by:
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Deterring pregnant people from accessing prenatal care.
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Interfering with newborns receiving the care they need.
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Causing long-lasting trauma and negative health outcomes for newborns and parents.
A Note on Terminology:
When we say “test-and-report,” we are referring to healthcare providers performing a drug test and/or verbal drug screen on perinatal patients and their newborns without informed consent, and reporting the results to family policing agencies.
A drug test refers to a test using a biological sample, including, but not limited to, urine or hair, to determine the presence of drugs or alcohol.
A verbal drug screen refers to a verbal or written tool or questionnaire used to determine the use of drugs or alcohol.
A Step Forward: Pass the Informed Consent Act!
The Informed Consent Act (A109B/S320B) is a New York State racial and reproductive justice bill that would require healthcare providers to obtain written and verbal informed consent from perinatal people before drug testing or screening them or their newborns.
The Informed Consent NY Coalition
We are made up of people directly impacted by the family policing system, organizers, doulas, medical providers, social workers, public defenders, civil rights groups, and reproductive rights and justice organizations. We come together as a coalition to build on and from the collective power within our communities and seek to reimagine family safety for perinatal people and parents who use substances.