‘The Right to Recovery Is Essential to Democracy’ Series

Five Ways We Can Support Women in Recovery Without Punishing Them

PUBLISHED 9/29/2025 by

Recovery is not just a personal journey—it is a struggle shaped by policies that too often punish women rather than support them. From losing custody of their children to facing barriers in treatment and the criminal legal system, women with substance use disorder encounter hurdles that men rarely experience. Trauma, stigma and inadequate access to care create a landscape where seeking help can feel like choosing between survival and motherhood.

My sister’s story—years of overdose, illness and family separation—mirrors countless others who live at the intersection of addiction, gender and policy neglect.

The solutions are clear but rarely implemented. Women need access to care that recognizes their lived realities, programs that allow them to keep their families together, and protections that prevent survival strategies from being criminalized. Trauma-informed, women-specific treatment, expanded childcare, extended postpartum coverage, and decriminalization of behaviors tied to survival are not optional—they are essential. Until our systems prioritize dignity, equity and healing, the numbers will keep rising and the stories will keep repeating. Recovery must be recognized as a right, not a risk.

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The road to recovery—and the right to recovery—is essential to a free and fair democracy. This essay is part of a new multimedia collection exploring the intersections of addiction, recovery and gender justice. The Right to Recovery Is Essential to Democracy is a collaboration between Ms. and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown Law, in honor of National Recovery Month.

The War on Drugs Was a War on Black Mothers

PUBLISHED 9/29/2025 by

In the late 20th century, the so-called “crack baby epidemic” became a media obsession. Politicians, prosecutors and even physicians bought into a false narrative: that poor Black women who used cocaine during pregnancy were dooming their children to lives of permanent brain damage, misery and crime. The stories were sensational—and wrong. What these accounts ignored were the actual conditions of women’s lives: poverty, lack of healthcare, untreated trauma and mental illness. Instead of compassion, women like Regina McKnight—raped, grieving, depressed and self-medicating—were met with prosecution, prison sentences and public shaming.

The truth is, there was no epidemic of “biologically inferior” babies. Rigorous scientific research—largely disregarded by mainstream media—showed that cocaine exposure did not cause the catastrophic outcomes predicted by pundits. Yet the racialized panic over “crack babies” justified criminalizing pregnancy, targeting Black mothers, and fueling the broader war on drugs. These myths, and the policies they spawned, continue to shape how our legal and healthcare systems treat women—especially women of color—today.

[An excerpt from Michele Goodwin’s book Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.]

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The road to recovery—and the right to recovery—is essential to a free and fair democracy. This essay is part of a new multimedia collection exploring the intersections of addiction, recovery and gender justice. The Right to Recovery Is Essential to Democracy is a collaboration between Ms. and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown Law, in honor of National Recovery Month.

Recovery Saved My Life. It Can Also Save U.S. Democracy.

PUBLISHED 9/29/2025 by

For many years, alcohol and other substances felt like the only thing that made me feel safe, seen and comfortable in my own skin. Growing up in a small Midwestern town, I never fit the mold of what a boy was “supposed” to be. I was bullied for how I dressed and looked, and called names when I showed emotion or vulnerability. The message was clear: Who I was wasn’t acceptable. Anxiety and depression followed, and by the time I discovered alcohol as a teenager, it felt like the only thing that made life bearable. But that relief was fleeting. My life spiraled into darkness—I failed out of college, lost relationships and, most painfully, felt like I was losing myself. Recovery gave me my life back. It reminded me that no matter how dark life becomes, there is always a way forward.

But recovery is not just a personal journey—it is a political one. When people recover, they become active participants in their communities. They vote, parent, work, study and volunteer. Recovery teaches us how to sit beside people who are different from us, offer a hand, and say: You got this, you are not alone. At a time when our democracy feels fractured and so many are isolated and hurting, recovery provides a roadmap for how we can heal together. It’s not only about saving individual lives—it’s about restoring the conditions that make democracy possible: connection, resilience and shared purpose.

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The road to recovery—and the right to recovery—is essential to a free and fair democracy. This essay is part of a new multimedia collection exploring the intersections of addiction, recovery and gender justice. The Right to Recovery Is Essential to Democracy is a collaboration between Ms. and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown Law, in honor of National Recovery Month.