A pregnant female inmate at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee, Mass., poses for a portrait in the facility’s visiting area in 2014.
Image of Dina Rudick / Boston Globe / Getty
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Image of Dina Rudick / Boston Globe / Getty
A pregnant female inmate at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee, Mass., poses for a portrait in the facility’s visiting area in 2014.
Image of Dina Rudick / Boston Globe / Getty
The Tennessee legislature passed a final bill on Thursday that would limit the use of shackles and other restraints on pregnant inmates – the latest state to curtail what experts say Medically speaking is a routine but dangerous job for pregnant women and unborn babies.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, more than a dozen states do not have laws restricting the shackles of pregnant prisoners, and those laws often have exceptions for public safety or other reasons.
It’s unclear exactly how many pregnant inmates are shackled or confined each year, but experts say it still happens in US prisons and prisons, where it’s estimated 58,000 pregnant women pass every year.
One Research 2018 found that, of hospital nurses who said they cared for incarcerated women during pregnancy or postpartum, 82.9% said that their incarcerated patients “sometimes always shackled”.
“It’s a very discredited and dangerous operation,” Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project, told NPR.
“A lot of the policies the prison system has in place about shackling people when they’re getting medical care out there is just ridiculous,” added Kendrick.
The medical community opposes the shackles of pregnant prisoners
Medical experts bluntly criticize the practice of shackling pregnant prisoners. National organizations – from American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists arrive American Medical Association arrive Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrician and Neonatal Nurses – oppose it, or support the restriction.
Dr Carolyn Sufrin, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said having an inmate shackled during labor and delivery was a challenge for doctors and nurses.
For example, if the healthcare provider detects a rapid decrease in the fetal heart rate and is concerned about fetal distress, they may want to change the position of the fetus. In other cases, if an inmate requires C-section, they will need to be moved quickly to the operating room.
“All of that is thwarted if the person is shackled to the bed and we don’t have time to negotiate with an officer to unbuckle the seat belt so we can provide care,” says Sufrin. urgent, time-sensitive medical care”.
Even before labor and delivery, pregnant prisoners in shacks face other risks, such as blood clots. Sufrin said constrained prisoners are also at higher risk of falling and not being able to break their fall, which can lead to bleeding or even stillbirth.
This practice is not universally banned in the United States
Despite widespread opposition to shackling pregnant inmates, not all states prohibit it by law.
At least 37 states have laws restricting the shackles of pregnant inmates, after Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the law into law last week.
Some states even ban shackles during pregnancy as well as during labor, delivery, and the postpartum recovery period.
Federal law also restricts this activity. The First Step Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018, prevent the use of restrictive measures about pregnant women in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshals Service.
These kinds of laws are needed now, says Sufrin, because prisons and prisons have never been seen as places to administer and provide health care to pregnant people.
“In my opinion, the reason that we have to have laws is because our carnal system is essentially gendered to picture prisoners by default as male,” she said.
Even among existing laws, exceptions are often made if officials believe a pregnant inmate may try to escape or harm others.
Tennessee is the latest state to move toward easing restrictions on pregnant inmates
State officials have restricted the shackles of pregnant inmates during labor in state-run facilities, according to Tennessee lawmakers, but the proposal would include that prohibition in state law. and also apply it to county jails.
The state senate passed the bill without opposition on Thursday. The House of Representatives passed it on Monday.
It now needs the signature of Republican Governor Bill Lee to become law.
This measure restricts pregnant prisoners from being placed under house arrest except under certain circumstances, such as if correctional staff determine that the prisoner is a flight or security risk. Inmates could also be held “with handcuffs only in front of her body” while in transit or outside of their facility.
The law prohibits a pregnant inmate from tightening the ankle, leg, or waistband during labor and delivery. The law also prohibits holding pregnant prisoners with their hands behind their backs or attaching them to another prisoner.
“We want a safe and healthy pregnancy for every mother and child,” said Senator Raumesh Akbari, the Democrat who sponsored the Tennessee bill. said in a statement.
She added: “By limiting the dangerous and inhumane practice of shackling incarcerated women to give birth while in re-education, we are promoting better pregnancy outcomes.
The Tennessee Sheriff’s Association took issue with an earlier version of the bill, arguing that pregnant inmates could still pose a threat to those around them, WPLN reported.
The association’s chief executive officer, Jeff Bledsoe, testified at a recent committee hearing: “Just because an inmate is pregnant doesn’t mean they’re incapacitated, and we don’t know people. think about their efforts or actions”. “We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and the restraints help us protect ourselves, protect the prisoner.”
According to the WPLN, the measure was subsequently revised to take into account those concerns as well as other responses from the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
