While addressing the serious issue of maternal mental health disorders is a laudable goal, legislation under consideration this year requiring a mental health screening for mothers before release from a birthing facility would have set a troubling precedent for the privacy and treatment of new moms.
The ACLU raised a number of issues in testifying against the bill, arguing that screenings should be done with consent and not on an automatic and mandatory basis. The experience of giving birth is difficult enough for the mother, with or without a history of mental health disorders, only to then be put through a screening process to prove her mental fitness before leaving the hospital with her baby. No fathers are required to undergo such a screening before bringing their child home. The legislation did not move out of committee.
