Maternalism and unprotection:

baby kidnapping motivated by the mother’s drug use as a reproductive violence

Abstract

This article aims to expose and analyse cases of judicial separation between mother and her baby, without consent and sometimes as soon as childbirth, motivated by the current, past or supposed drug use of this woman, as a form of reproductive violence, absence of health care and lack of social protection. Named, among other names, as the kidnapping of babies by the state, this phenomenon is discussed in this text as a violent expression of the famialist-maternalist ideology, notably aporophobic and racist, that places women with social vulnerabilities and with needs from drug use not as deserving of protection and health care, but rather of punishment. In contrast, this article proposes a critical look at this reality of individualization of social issues from the perspective of Reproductive Justice, understanding the complementarity between the rights of these babies and their mothers.