Top 11 -Massachusetts Considers Bill to Prioritize Treatment Over Punishment for New Mothers with Postpartum Psychiatric Illness | uxa2.com

weight: 400;”>On October 21, 2025, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary considered legislation that could make Massachusetts the second state in the nation to prioritize treatment over punishment for birth mothers with acute perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMAD), including postpartum psychosis (PPP), who are involved in the criminal justice system.

weight: 400;”>Lee S. Cohen, MD, director of the MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health, joined advocates, mothers and their families to testify in support of this legislation. He notes, weight: 400;”>”The bill before us is not a free pass. Its provisions essentially bring due diligence into the mix.”

ACTIVITY RELATED TO THE WELL-BEING OF NEW MOTHERS AND BABIES weight: 400;”>(H.1924/S.1171), sponsored by Representative Jim O’Day and Senator Joan B. Lovely, would add compassion and fairness to our criminal justice system in the following ways:

• weight: 400;” aria-level=”1″>weight: 400;”>Providing an assessment by an expert in reproductive psychiatry when the defendant has given birth in the 12 months preceding the alleged crime,
• weight: 400;” aria-level=”1″>weight: 400;”>Referring the mother to treatment if necessary,
• weight: 400;” aria-level=”1″>weight: 400;”>Consider postpartum psychosis as a mitigating factor in sentencing in the most serious cases, and
• weight: 400;” aria-level=”1″>weight: 400;”>The possibility of conviction in cases where postpartum psychosis was a factor but was not considered.

weight: 400;”>Help build support for this important legislationweight: 400;”> by writing to your state legislators today urging them to sign weight: 400;”>New Mothers and Infants Welfare Actweight: 400;”>!

weight: 400;”>New mothers charged with crimes would receive a mental health screening and treatment with a billweight: 400;”> (GBHweight: 400;”>)