nized that the fetus does possess certain rights. For example, in Ferguson v City of Charleston (121 S. Ct. 1281 [2001]) the Court agreed to take up a case remanded from lower courts in which the issue was the legality of enforced drug testing of pregnant women undertaken by the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). MUSC had devised a policy, in cooperation with law enforcement officials, for screening pregnant patients for cocaine use. Women who tested positive would be turned over to the police and threatened with prosecution to provide the necessary leverage to force them into drug treatment (Gostin, 20010.
The lower courts, including the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, described by Gostin (2001) as well known for conservative judicial activism, held that the policy was constitutional despite the fact that it subjected pregnant women to nonconsensual drug tests without a warrant. When it heard the case, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling of the lower court and characterized the MUSC policy as not fitting wi
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