Natl: Shackled and in Labor

No imprisoned woman had ever tried to escape while in labor. There’s no record of it anywhere, and ask any woman who's had a child, and she would tell you running somewhere wasn't high on her list of things to do at the time. Yet, handcuffing women in labor to beds or using ankle and waist shackles on them are common practices across the US.

No imprisoned woman had ever tried to escape while in labor. There’s no record of it anywhere, and ask any woman who's had a child, and she would tell you running somewhere wasn't high on her list of things to do at the time. Yet, handcuffing women in labor to beds or using ankle and waist shackles on them are common practices across the US. Women have been forced to wear leg cuffs up until the actual delivery, forced while in labor to walk hospital halls in leg cuffs, and been chained to beds throughout their delivery. This practice is dangerous, inhumane and degrading. A report describing the extent of these practices and calling for national changes, Abuse of Women in Custody: Sexual Misconduct and the Shackling of Pregnant Women, was released on March 1 by Amnesty International USA.

Only Illinois and California have laws banning the practice, and those laws are fairly recent. The departments of corrections of five states and the District of Columbia have rules prohibiting the shackling of women in labor.

This news brief is based on a story from The New York Times, Prisons often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor, and an Amnesty International USA report, Abuse of Women in Custody: Sexual Misconduct and the Shackling of Pregnant Women.  If the link is broken, check the archives of the newspaper or organization listed.