Birthing Babies Behind Bars
In many prisons and jails throughout the country pregnant women are routinely shackled during labor and delivery. Surprisingly, California, Illinois, and Vermont are the only states to have passed anti-shackling legislation.
Prison and jail protocols require ankle shackles and, until recently, stomach restraints. Access to Reproductive Health Care in New York State Jails, a New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) report released last March, argues that shackling violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Shackling seems especially ridiculous when we consider that the majority of women are in custody for non-violent crimes.
A few months ago the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) finally decided to prohibit “face-down four-point restraints and restraint belts that directly constrict the area of the pregnancy.” Further amendments to the shackling policy are in the works. Policies in state jails vary extremely. According to the NYCLU report, only three New York jails have written procedures concerning the shackling of pregnant women; of those three, only two forbid it.
The Second Chance Act of 2007 (HR 1593) was recently passed into law and requires the Attorney General to submit a detailed report to Congress on correctional facility policies regarding the restraint of pregnant women. Facilities must also report on “the reasons for the use of the physical restraints, the length of time that the physical restraints were used, and the security concerns that justified the use of the physical restraints.” The bill should become effective by next spring.
In the past thirty years, the number of incarcerated women has increased by 800%–and women of color are the fastest growing prison population in the US. Groups like the Rebecca Project and the Prison Doula Project are fighting to ensure that pregnant women are never shackled and even to provide for a positive labor experience. We need to respond responsibly with additional anti-shackling legislation and appropriate health care for the safety of these women and their newborn babies.
By Samantha Hurley