U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte is introducing legislation to improve treatment programs for pregnant women and mothers who have a substance use disorder, including a pilot program that allows funds to help women in non-residential settings.
Ayotte, a Republican, was introducing the Senate version of the Improving Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Act on Tuesday. A similar bill was recently introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico.
Ayotte said the heroin and prescription opioid addiction crisis does not discriminate, and pregnant women and new mothers struggling with addiction are facing especially difficult challenges.
The bill would reauthorize residential treatment programs for pregnant and postpartum women supported by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
