I was reading through some of the blog posts on this site and I agree with the statements made by one blogger concerning the fact that child abuse and neglect can start before the baby is even born. I personally know a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. She took pain killers, drank alcohol and smoked marijuana while she was expecting her son. Her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of three and he struggles to live a normal life. There is scientific evidence to suggest that there is a link between alcohol abuse during pregnancy and autism. Fortunately the woman in question no longer drinks alcohol or abuses any kind of drug. She has stepped up to the plate and is doing all she can to help her son. Yet she still has to live with the knowledge that she may have caused her son’s autism.
Perhaps you think of alcoholism and drug addiction as a disease. However, the way I see it consuming alcohol and taking drugs while you are pregnant does constitute child abuse and neglect. It should therefore be categorized as one of the types of child abuse. The sad fact is that what I have just told you is just one of thousands of similar child abuse stories. Women who abuse their unborn fetus by introducing alcohol and drugs into its bloodstream should be held accountable for their actions.