 The ethical issues are different when we turn to pregnant women who seriously abuse alcohol and other drugs known to cause major damage to fetuses. This is undesirable behavior that we would like to prevent if possible, and if a woman can stop this behavior, then she ought to. Many states have tried to prosecute pregnant drug users for separate crimes beyond illicit drug use, such as child abuse, but such charges have rarely stood up in court (but see Whitner v. South Carolina, 1997). Not infrequently, pregnant drug users have had their children removed from their care at birth, or have been coerced into treatment. As we discuss below, these forms of intervention may have the opposite of the desired effect, by discouraging pregnant women who use drugs and alcohol from seeking prenatal care (Roberts and Pies 2011).