A growing problem that continues to exist today is drug and alcohol abuse by pregnant women. This has become a growing problem due to the fact that pregnancy begins at a much younger age. Women tend to get pregnant between the ages of 15 and 44 (“Birth Facts”). In young women aged 18 to 24, alcohol and tobacco rates were 25.5% and 15.5%, respectively (Chen). In 2001, approximately 12% of all pregnant women admitted to consuming alcohol during pregnancy (Burd). Of the approximately 4 million births in the United States, 64,000 had high levels of alcohol exposure during pregnancy (Burd). Likewise, teenagers and those in early adulthood are exposed to all different types of drugs. Both of these facts are the main causes of the increase in drug and alcohol abuse by pregnant women. Another growing question that persists today is whether or not abortion should be legal. Due to the fact that in some states having an abortion is considered murder; Drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy should be treated similarly. Drug and alcohol use not only impacts the mother's life, but also endangers the unborn child. Drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy has many long-term negative effects on the baby and should be punished as a crime. Illicit drugs such as cocaine and tobacco, for example, have a negative impact on the development of the fetus. One of the risks an expectant mother faces when using cocaine during pregnancy is putting the baby at risk of developing cocaine metabolites, which means that cocaine has become necessary for the baby's metabolic process. A woman named Cornelia Whitner, whose child was diagnosed with cocaine metabolites, was ...... half of paper ......., 2013. Web. November 18, 2013.Chen, Wei-Jung A. and Susan E. Maier. "Combined use of drugs and risk of fetal harm". STORM. Government Printing Bureau, n.d. Web. April 3, 2014. Meyer, Kurt D., and Lubo Zhang. "Abstract." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 30, 2005. Web. September 16, 2013. “Punishing Women for Their Behavior During Pregnancy.” second PDF file. November 18, 2013. “Tobacco Use and Pregnancy.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d. Web. November 18, 2013. “Topics in Brief: Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse.” Prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse, May 2011. Web. November 18, 2013. Toal, Jean, and Lynn M. Paltrow. “Should a pregnant woman be punished for exposing her fetus to risk?” Bioethics. Issue 9. nd:144-61. second PDF file. November 18. 2013.