Pregnant women who drink would be labeled “criminals”

Women who drink heavily during pregnancy would soon be seen as committing a crime of violence against their unborn children should a particular court case sails through.

The court case involves lawyers for a girl born disabled because of her mother’s excessive alcohol consumption. The mother was said to have drank half a bottle of vodka and eight cans of beer a day while pregnant of the girl.

The girl’s lawyers have asked three judges at a Court of Appeal in UK to rule that the girl is entitled to compensation after being born with an alcohol-related disorder.

MailOnline reports that the judges, Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls, sitting with Lord Justice Treacy and Lady Justice King, said the court would take time to consider its decision.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Birthrights have then said that if the appeal succeeds, it could pave the way for pregnant women's behaviour to be criminalized.

About 80 of such cases are waiting to cash in on this ruling.

The girl, now six, was born with foetal alcohol syndrome and suffered growth retardation as a result of her mother's drinking. 

But a counsel for the Criminal Injuries compensation Authority (CICA), Ben Collins kicked against the appeal arguing that there was a conflict of ideas about what is considered dangerous in terms of drink as well as food and even smoking.

He was quoted by MailOnline to have asked whether “a pregnant mother who eats unpasteurised cheese or a soft boiled egg knowing there is a risk that it could give rise to a risk of harm to the foetus' might also find herself accused of a crime.

PHOTO: MAILONLINE