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The War on Drugs Was a War on Black Mothers
In the late 20th century, the so-called “crack baby epidemic” became a media obsession. Politicians, prosecutors and even physicians bought into a false narrative: that poor Black women who used cocaine during pregnancy were dooming their children to lives of permanent brain damage, misery and crime. The stories were sensational—and wrong. What these accounts ignored were the actual conditions of women’s lives: poverty, lack of healthcare, untreated trauma and mental illness. Instead of compassion, women like Regina McKnight—raped, grieving, depressed and self-medicating—were met with prosecution, prison sentences and public shaming.
The truth is, there was no epidemic of “biologically inferior” babies. Rigorous scientific research—largely disregarded by mainstream media—showed that cocaine exposure did not cause the catastrophic outcomes predicted by pundits. Yet the racialized panic over “crack babies” justified criminalizing pregnancy, targeting Black mothers, and fueling the broader war on drugs. These myths, and the policies they spawned, continue to shape how our legal and healthcare systems treat women—especially women of color—today.
[An excerpt from Michele Goodwin’s book Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.]
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The road to recovery—and the right to recovery—is essential to a free and fair democracy. This essay is part of a new multimedia collection exploring the intersections of addiction, recovery and gender justice. The Right to Recovery Is Essential to Democracy is a collaboration between Ms. and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown Law, in honor of National Recovery Month.
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1. The Long Way Home: Motherhood and Addiction (with Karen Thompson)
Welcome to The Long Way Home, a five-part limited series that journeys into the heart of substance use disorders and recovery. With a focus on women and marginalized communities, we explore how addiction uniquely impacts pregnant people, mothers, adolescents, and young adults. Through conversations with leading experts, we examine the intersection of addiction, the criminal legal system, systemic neglect, and the enduring effects of colonization. We center the right to recovery—recognizing it as a complex, lifelong process that deserves time, attention, and resources. This series is a space for truth-telling, learning, and imagining a more just and supportive path home.
In this first episode of The Long Way Home, we explore the intersection of motherhood and addiction with Karen Thompson.
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A Message From the Life of Urvashi Vaid: Do Not Remain Silent
When the 18-minute documentary There Are Things To premiered in Provincetown, Mass., in 2023, it was never meant to be a global statement. It was meant to be a love letter, a short community film about a long legacy. But like the woman it honors— activist Urvashi Vaid—it refused to stay small.
And how could it? We are living through a time when naturalized citizens are being threatened with denaturalization, children are being separated from their parents during immigration raids, people are crossing state lines just to access basic reproductive healthcare, and pregnant women who desperately want children are dying in homes and hospitals or on their way to seek medical care because doctors delay or deny treatment under strict abortion laws. These are not fringe headlines—they are daily realities in one of the most powerful nations in the world.
Against this backdrop, There Are Things to Do (now available for streaming on PBS) arrives like a gentle ambush. Its power is subtle, but the provocation is clear: What if the most radical thing an immigrant could do in America is not assimilate, but organize?
The Blueprint Reclaimed: Why America Needs More Black Midwives
Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. And yet, the very people we know we can rely on to protect us the most—Black midwives—have been nearly erased from the national birth narrative.
We must train more Black midwives and re-educate the public about midwifery practice. We also need funding, mentorship pipelines and community investment. We need our stories told, our legacy restored and our futures protected.
To become a Black midwife in America today is to resist and reclaim what was stolen. It is to plant seeds in soil that tried to bury us and watch them bloom anyway.
Every Black mother deserves someone who sees her. And every Black baby deserves to be welcomed into the world by someone who believes in their right to thrive.
(This essay is part of a collection presented by Ms. and the Groundswell Fund highlighting the work of Groundswell partners advancing inclusive democracy.)
