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Legislation to aid inmates in childbirth awaits governor's signature

HARRISBURG, June 30 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., said a bill that would end the practice of shackling inmates during childbirth passed the House this week and was sent to the governor.

Josephs, who advocated with House leadership to bring the bill up for a floor vote, said this bill would stop the current barbaric nature of childbirth for Pennsylvania inmates.

"A correctional institution should not apply restraints to an inmate known to be pregnant during any stage of labor," Josephs said. "There are many risk factors involved, which include the health of an innocent baby who should be brought into this world with tenderness and care, not barbarism; it is torture that is unfair to both the woman and the child."

Senate Bill 1074, to be known as the Healthy Birth for Incarcerated Women Act, would prohibit any state correctional facility, county jail, youth development center, youth forestry camp or state hospital forensic center from restraining or shackling pregnant inmates during any stage of labor, any pregnancy-related medical distress, transport to a medical facility, delivery or postpartum - which includes the time a woman would spend in the hospital after giving birth.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania hailed the House vote as a victory for women and children. Josephs said this bill would make Pennsylvania the eighth state to ban shackling of inmates in childbirth via statute. Other states that have statutory prohibitions are Texas, New Mexico, New York, California, Washington, Illinois and Vermont.

Josephs said the federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service have policies that ensure that women who are incarcerated do not have to suffer from shackling while in labor.

Once enacted, the law would take effect in 60 days.

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