Pregnant Addicts. (Entry 1 by Oliver)

I must say that the issue of pregnant addicts was as cloudy an issue as i anticipated. Of course, such a situation is a sad one, for both the mother and her unborn child, but as discussed in the class, it really is more complicated than first anticipated. Can we entertain the argument that the addicted mother is as much a victim of circumstance as her child? Has she been forsaken by the woes of circumstance as much as her unborn baby? It is a valid argument that the addicted mother suffers more from her circumstance than the fetus, given that she can consciously deliberate upon her circumstance whilst the unborn child cannot. If we tend to lean towards agreement with this point of view, then we naturally become more compassionate towards the stances of treatment and empowerment highlighted by the work of Iris Marion Young. Furthermore, my initial deliberation upon this topic draws me towards a particular aspect of 'empowerment' - that of individualising the case. The issue of pregnant addicts is complex and thus each subjective case must be judged upon its own merits with the compassion and discipline that may be required of the subjective case.