SUPREME COURT | Fri Jul 7, 2017 | 5:40pm EDT

Supreme Court lifts block on Wisconsin 'cocaine mom' law during appeal

By Andrew Chung

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday let Wisconsin officials continue to enforce a law allowing them to detain pregnant women suspected of abusing drugs or alcohol while the state appeals a lower court ruling that struck down the law.

In its brief order, the Supreme Court did not give any reasons for lifting an injunction against the so-called "cocaine mom" law imposed last April by a federal judge in Madison, Wisconsin, who said it was unconstitutionally vague.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor said they would have kept the injunction in place.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said the decision was "a victory for the rule of law and restores important tools that make mothers and children safer and stronger."

Wisconsin's Unborn Child Protection Act, enacted in 1998, gives courts power over any expectant mother who "habitually lacks self-control" over drugs or alcohol, placing an unborn child at risk. The law allows officials to hold the pregnant woman in custody if she refuses treatment.

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