#prisonbirth

[oklahomaprisonbirth]

Movement Builds to Stop Shackling Pregnant Prisoners

August 2009: "New York’s Governor David Paterson signed a bill banning the practice for all but the most unruly inmates, making the state the sixth to enact such a law. 

Prisons have been shackling women before, during and after childbirth for decades, but advocates say that a combination of new federal prison practices and increased pressure from human rights groups is accelerating reform.

The first state law banning restraints during labor passed in Illinois in 2000..."

[oklahomaprisonbirth]

As a matter of course, restraints are often also applied to women who are pregnant, in labor and are delivering their baby, as well as immediately following giving birth. 50 Amnesty International considers the routine use of restraints on pregnant women, and particularly on women in labor, a cruel, inhuman and degrading practice that seldom has any justification in terms of security concerns. Amnesty International is concerned that the shackling of women who are about to give birth endangers the women and their children.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdf/custodyissues.pdf

[oklahomaprisonbirth]

July 14, 2003

Article by Julia Lutsky and Brigette Sarabi

Partnership for Safety and Justice