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Drug Charges In Pregnancy Raise Ire

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The Associated Press

Published: August 2, 2008

ANDALUSIA, Ala. - Tiffany Michelle Hitson says she made the biggest mistake of her life by using cocaine shortly before giving birth. About two dozen national women's and medical organizations say an even bigger mistake occurred next, when the new mother was taken from her baby and sent to prison for a year.

Now another woman, Shekelia Ward, facing similar child endangerment charges is in a fight to escape the same fate.

Organizations opposed to prosecuting pregnant women for drug use have seized on Ward's case to turn rural Covington County, perched atop the Florida Panhandle, into their latest legal battleground. They argue the county's district attorney, Greg Gambril, is misinterpreting a unique state law meant to punish parents who make methamphetamine in their homes.

The Associated Press

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