[[{“value”:”
A state lawmaker has filed legislation that would make it illegal for women to use medical marijuana during pregnancy.
The bill could make it easier for prosecutors to file child neglect charges against expectant mothers who use marijuana with doctor-approved medical licenses after recent court rulings.
Women in some counties had faced felony charges after their newborns tested positive for marijuana at birth, even if the mothers had a license to use the substance legally. But the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled last year that these women can’t be prosecuted because medical marijuana is legal in the state. Appeals court judges urged the Oklahoma Legislature to change the law to clearly ban medical marijuana use during pregnancy.
Sign up to get text message updates when we publish a story
Oklahoma House Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, said he authored House Bill 1750 after a concerned constituent — a college student with an interest in the law — sent him an email about the court decision. Moore filed the bill in advance of the 2025 legislative session, which begins Feb. 3.
Moore said he hadn’t done much research on medical marijuana and pregnancy, but wanted to start a discussion in the state.
“I’m curious, genuinely curious, where the majority of Oklahomans stand on this issue. I would assume that since we feel very strongly about protecting rights of the unborn, this would be something else we’re very interested in,” Moore said.
Moore, who is now an attorney in private practice, worked as an assistant prosecutor for Latimer, Washita and Custer counties between 2013 and 2015. He said he filed cases against women for using marijuana and other drugs during their pregnancies. The goal was rehabilitation and the charges would often be dismissed after mothers completed a drug treatment program, Moore said.
“We know that not being substance dependent is one of the key areas that can set them and their babies on a path for success,” he said.
A growing number of women have faced criminal charges in Oklahoma after using illegal drugs during their pregnancies in recent years. Oklahoma had the second-highest number of pregnancy-related prosecutions in the nation in the year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade, a report by the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice found. Oklahoma is the only state Pregnancy Justice has found where women have been criminally charged for using medical marijuana. The group opposes prosecuting women for substance use during pregnancy, arguing that it can keep women from seeking prenatal care. Criminalizing the use of a legal drug like medical marijuana could keep pregnant women from taking other doctor-prescribed medications because of the fear of prosecution, representatives for the group said.
Dara Gell, senior staff attorney for Pregnancy Justice, said she believed Moore’s bill is discriminatory against women.
“Conduct that is legal for everybody with a prescription who is of age in Oklahoma, suddenly it is illegal for them,” Gell said. “To me, that’s a real question of discrimination against women with the capacity for pregnancy.”
Medical experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, advise against using marijuana during pregnancy. But there’s a lack of definitive research on the health effects because women who use marijuana are more likely to also use tobacco, alcohol or other drugs during their pregnancies.
Studies have found that a growing number of expectant mothers are using marijuana nationwide.
In the six years after Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana, the number of infants who tested positive at birth climbed 78%, from 386 to 689 for the year ending in June 2023, according to state data.
“}]] A growing number of women have faced criminal charges in Oklahoma after using drugs during their pregnancies in recent years. But an appeals court ruled expectant mothers who used medical marijuana can’t be prosecuted. Read More
