During the cocaine and crack epidemic of the 1980's, the medical establishment takes a punitive response to women living in poverty, especially Black women and Women of Color, who are pregnant and using cocaine. Mothers are often separated from their babies and sent to jail instead of offered support.

Years later, it will be acknowledged that these kids, deemed "crack babies," actually have no measurable long-term negative effects from their mothers' cocaine use.

According to the Sentencing Project, "between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 475%."