Abortion Access of Women Prisoners is Limited by Varying Policies - Part 2

Diana,
Thanks so much for your comments on women's reproductive rights in prisons - a subject that is so often overlooked, and that needs to be addressed. A society can be judged by the way it treats those who are marginalized.
Anna

Anna,

Thanks for highlighting this serious, often overlooked, problem. Arbitrary, inadequate, and inhumane treatment of pregnant women in prisons and jails (and increasingly immigration detention as well), remains a problem nationwide. Unconstitutional obstacles to abortion care (as discussed in my article http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/4105909.pdf) are one of many ways that prisons and jail deny women critical reproductive health services and subject them to unsafe conditions. In fact, the use of shackles, including leg irons, on laboring women remains all too common in many jails and prisons around the country. Fortunately, real progress is being made on that front. Just this year, bills to restrict the use of restraints on pregnant inmates were introduced in Arkansas, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Texas. The New Mexico bill has already become law and that state now joins California, Illinois, and Vermont as among those with statutes restricting the practice of shackling pregnant inmates. This is a great start, but there remains an urgent need for improvements in prison policies and state laws to address the range of dangerously inadequate reproductive health services, particularly prenatal and obstetrical care, for pregnant inmates. You can go here http://72.3.233.244/reproductiverights/gen/pregnancycareinprison.html to find out how different state prisons treat pregnant inmates, and here http://72.3.233.244/reproductiverights/abortion/index.html for other information on the work the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project is doing to protect the health and rights of pregnant women in prisons and jails nationwide.

Diana Kasdan
Staff Attorney, ACLU RFP