“Crack-babies” a media-induced phenomenon brought about by the culmination of public outcry resulting from the results of the 1980s war on drugs. This term laid the foundation for partial prosecutions that sparked a political crusade in the climate of the time. Thus exploiting public fear of children born to drug-addicted mothers and creating a firestorm of litigation to prosecute pregnant drug addicts. According to Flavin, Paltrow (2010), current evidence indicates that public stigma and prejudice pose a greater danger to maternal and fetal health than the use of the drug itself. Leaving the question of why addicted women are still publicly reviled for the consequences of their circumstances. From this repugnance comes the likelihood that these women will be dissuaded from seeking prenatal care rather than seeking help for their addiction; expelling an even bigger problem as the concern of healthcare is added to the mix. Complex social issues must therefore be taken into account to highlight the need for policymakers to enable the legal and medical systems to create better programs for these women and to allocate rehabilitative rather than punitive solutions. During the late 1970s a movement began with prosecutors using child abuse, endangerment rules, and charges of furnishing drugs to a minor to prosecute pregnant women who used illicit substances during pregnancy. The prosecution of a pregnant heroin user in the State of California on charges of child endangerment was one of the first such prosecutions in 1977 (Stone-Manista, 2009, pp.823-856). This was the catalyst for the often partial punishment of pregnant drug users under the law. It is this accusatory streak that has struck... half of the document... ses, 29(2), 231-244. doi:10.1080/10550881003684830 Harris, L. H., & Paltrow, L. (2003). The status of pregnant women and fetuses in US criminal law. JAMA: Journal of the American MedicalAssociation, 289(13), 1697. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Lambert, B., Scheiner, M., & Campbell, D. (2010). Ethical issues and addiction. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 29(2), 164-174.doi:10.1080/10550881003684673STONE-MANISTA, K. (2009). PROTECTING PREGNANT WOMEN: A GUIDE TO SUCCESSFULLY DEALING WITH CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS FOR CHILD DRUG ABUSE DURING PREGNANCY. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 99(3), 823-856. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Terplan, M., Garrett, J., & Hartmann, K. (2009). Gestational age at enrollment and continued substance use among pregnant women receiving drug treatment. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 28(2), 103-112.doi:10.1080/10550880902772399