Medical Malpractice: A Mother's Accountability For Pregnant Women

Pregnant women hold the most accountability in regards to what happens to the fetus developing inside their body and if they put the fetus’s health at risk and there is an effect detected after birth, they should be held responsible as well. Comparing this accountability on a different scale, these situations relate to a person’s accountability and owning up to the responsibility of their actions. If a person who drinks alcohol and drives with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level higher than the legal limit, they are not only putting themselves in a dangerous situation and in harm’s way but they are also putting other people in harm’s way, other drivers and riders as well. The driver who is legally drunk and illegally driving is held responsible and can be charged with a fine and even jail time. If a person drives without a seatbelt on, or allows other riders that are under age to ride without a seatbelt, they are being put in danger if they are in a car accident because they will not be protected correctly, and that driver is held responsible and is fined. If a doctor is accused of Medical malpractice, which “is defined as any act or omission by a physician during treatment of a patient that deviates from accepted …show more content…
This does not revolve around the idea that the woman is charged for using the illegal substances, but should be prosecuted because their drug use had an effect on the child. The different substances that are classified as illegal drugs, their effect while used during a pregnancy on the child and the rates of birth defects due to substance abuse during pregnancy are analyzed in this paper to help argue that a mother who uses these drugs during pregnancy and the child’s health suffers, the mother should be charged with child abuse. The laws and cases that relate to similar real-life situations are also