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The criminalization of drug use in pregnancy is universally opposed by health officials and drug policy experts. But the idea that prison is a fitting punishment for prenatal drug use has become widely accepted in Alabama. Starting in 2006, prosecutors began charging women who used drugs during pregnancy with “chemical endangerment,” a form of child abuse that carries a one to 10-year prison sentence if a baby is unharmed and up to 99 years if a baby dies.