Statement by Allison Glass, State Director of Healthy and Free TN on Senate Bill 586 and House Bill 1340:

"The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Senate Bill 586 on Tuesday, which would expand the Pregnancy Criminalization Act. Enacted last year, this law throws pregnant women and new mothers who are trying to overcome an addiction to drugs into jail instead of working to ensure access to effective treatment options.

HB 1340/SB 586 would add methamphetamine to the types of drugs that a person can be jailed for using while pregnant. As frightening and frustrating as the issue of methamphetamine can be, health professionals warn against trying to coerce or threaten people into seeking care to deal with their addiction. It just does not work.

Proponents talk about this legislation as a way to deal with drugs in Tennessee, but the fact is that it flies in the face of the recommendations of medical professionals that are trained to deal with the public health challenge of addiction.That is why more than 15 state and national groups have come together to speak out in opposition to House Bill 1340 and Senate Bill 586.

We know that TN has a problem with addiction, especially in areas where people struggle with poverty and joblessness, but simply put these bills are not the solution. Instead of separating families and using limited state funds to jail people, we should be working to ensure that people have access to cost effective treatment options. We urge our state's lawmakers to create real solutions, not simple fixes that hurt more than they could ever help.

Every Tennessean should have the support and the access to health services and programs that enable them to manage their health and to care for their families. That is what we need - not bills based on judgment, stigma and personal beliefs. We need serious solutions to the serious challenges that we are facing."