May 06, 2008 02:29AM GMT
Question
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Politics - United States
Should there be a law against pregnant women smoking?
Isn't that child abuse?
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Answered Yes
omg their babies can have serous problems when it is born... and we dont want any trailer trash hookers have down syndrome kids, because we all know that they wouldnt take care of them because they are to busy smoking and having s*x. by the way, who would want to marry & have kids with people like that? -
Answered No
Do I think it's right? Absolutely not. It's horrible. But we can't just put a law out there that says "Nope. Can't do that anymore. We don't like it," without having other laws and issues follow. I think that this is too interlinked with constitutional rights to create a law for; however I believe that other things could be done to help prevent it.
Also, on a slightly different note, some female smokers might get accidentally pregnant. Some of them can't just quit cold turkey when they find out that they're pregnant, but they do eventually stop smoking- it just takes time. It's not good, but they can't help it and need time. They care about the child so they quit, so I thought that that might be worth mentioning instead of just putting all smokers ("I don't care if I'm pregnant I'll smoke if I want to" VS. Those who quit but just need time) together. -
Answered No
We are not communist though with the amount of laws passing I am begining to wonder. What would follow this law? Being told what to eat and drink, how much sleep we must get a night.
All you can do is teach about the harm of smoking, over eating, etc. and leave it to the individual. -
You are poisoning yourself when you eat junk, when you drink alcohol. When you drive over the speed limit you are playing a game that may cost you or someone else their life.
You are being silly when you compare a child molester, murderer, rapist, robber to a woman smoking.
Some doctors ask women to cut back but not quit smoking if they are heavy smokers as the withdrawl symptoms can be harder on the baby than cutting way back. Of course it's not good for the baby, but neither is shoving all that take out into their mouths, or gaining 70 pounds.
Do you want to be the monitor of who is allowed to do what here in the United States? Bet if we spent a week with you we could come up with many bad habits from you that we don't like. -
Answered No
While I agree that pregnant women should not smoke and am fully against abortion (my views there run extremely right wing), I am not in favor of any government mandates on who can smoke and who can't. Why? I agree with the view that people should make their own moral personal decisions for not only themselves, but their children. But this is an extremely tricky subject with no really clear answer.
If a pregnant woman continues to smoke, it is possible that some harm could come to the unborn baby. But by making a law on this very personal decision, well- what law would come next? See, this sort of thing opens a doorway to who knows what? And we have too much government influence on our lives as it is.
I think that the best answer here would be to really encourage pregnant smokers to stop. If they need help doing this cause they can't seem to kick it on their own, maybe some programs could be implemented to help them. After all, smoking is highly addictive and not the easiest habit in the world to kick. Maybe like a short-term place (sort of like a rehab) that will get people on the right path to stopping? Sounds extreme but for some people, this is the sort of thing it takes. Depends on how serious society is about trying to help people stop. -
Most states have programs at local hospitals where they give the nicotine patch and classes free. The states won money from the tobacco companies, which they don't advertise to much, but the money was put away and earmarked for smoking sessation classes. So there already are programs in place paid for by the cigarette companies.
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"... But, how can this be enforced?" - doctork
This is why you should have answered no. What good is a law you can not enforce.
Would you support a similar law for trans fat?
How is one health concern more legal than the next?
What about riding motorcylces when your pregnant? ..or a car for that matter... -
raves +1
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Answered No
Absolutely not, no one or government has the right to legislate morals. It is all about education and morals, not making more laws.