The terrifying screening separating thousands of newborns from their mothers

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     September 12, 2024 You’ve just delivered your baby in the hospital. You're exhausted, but it's also one of the happiest moments of your life. Then, while cradling your newborn, you get horrifying news: Your urine tested positive for meth. Or opiates. Or cocaine. But the problem is that you haven’t used any of those drugs. For many, this isn’t just a hypothetical scenario; [it’s a terrifying reality](. In my latest story for The Marshall Project, co-published with Mother Jones, I found that hospitals across the US are screening pregnant patients using drug tests that have false positive rates as high as 50 percent. Hospitals are then reporting false positive results to child welfare authorities, leading to investigations and removals of newborns from their families. In several cases, police are involved in the forced separation of parents from their children. I first learned about this issue after hearing from a mom who had screened positive for meth at the time of her child’s birth, a result caused, she said, by her prescription for labetalol, one of the most commonly prescribed blood pressure medications for pregnant women. As a result of the positive screening, child welfare [authorities put her newborn in foster care](. At first, I was horrified by her story, and also skeptical. How could such a widely used medication trigger a positive on a drug test? Why hadn’t I heard about this before? But as soon as I interviewed a toxicologist, I learned this mother was far from alone. We found that every year, tens of thousands of babies are reported by hospitals to child welfare authorities for having been allegedly exposed to substances, without any guarantee that the tests were accurate. In 2022 alone, more than 6,000 babies were removed from their families. Our story—[out now](—examines how easily false positives can occur inside labor-and-delivery units, and how quickly families can get trapped inside a system of surveillance and punishment. And be sure to listen to [our collaboration with]( Reveal, where you can hear from the women themselves in their own powerful words. —Shoshana Walter Advertisement [Defend old-growth forests. Join Patagonia Action Works.]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [What Do Teens Think of Trump?]( They were 9 when he rode down the golden escalator and 11 during Charlottesville. We talked to first-time voters about what they remember (or don’t) from the Trump presidency. BY INAE OH SPONSORED CONTENT FROM PATAGONIA ACTION WORKS   Defending ancient forests never gets old. [Join Patagonia Action Works]( in advocating for the strongest possible protections of our nation's oldest forests. Old-growth and mature forests are a vital climate solution, and a proposed Forest Service amendment doesn't go far enough to protect these trees from commercial logging. [Act before September 20—](it only takes a minute, but the results could be everlasting. [Trending] [The debate exposed how comfortable America is with hating immigrants]( BY ISABELA DIAS   [RFK Jr.’s buddy explains why formerly lefty moms are flocking to Trump]( BY KIERA BUTLER   [The Trump plan to prosecute election officials and suppress the vote]( BY PEMA LEVY   [The debate underscored candidates' differences on energy and climate]( BY ZOYA TEIRSTEIN Advertisement [Defend old-growth forests. Join Patagonia Action Works.]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [She ate a poppy seed salad just before giving birth. Then they took her baby away.]( “They had a singular piece of evidence that I had taken something, and it was wrong.” BY SHOSHANA WALTER MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE   A HUGE OPPORTUNITY A generous board member just chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift, and we need newsletter readers to help us make the most of it. [Any donation you make online from now until September 30]( will be matched dollar-for-dollar. You know the stakes right now. And with your support going twice as far, Mother Jones can lead the way these next 60 days in showing the corporate media how to cover the unique danger that Trump represents and not make the same mistakes they did in 2016 and 2020. Please help with a donation if you can—even just a few bucks helps. A [monthly gift]( would be incredible. [Donate Now]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Share it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755