New York To Become Sixth State To Prohibit Shackling Of Incarcerated Women During Labor

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Public Health
Article Date: 27 Aug 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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New York Gov. David Paterson (D) is expected to sign a law this week that would make the state the sixth in the U.S. to prohibit the practice of shackling incarcerated pregnant women during labor, the AP/Boston Globe reports. Incarcerated women nationwide routinely are shackled while giving birth, often by correctional staff who do not have medical training, according to civil rights organizations and prisoner advocates. Although no data are available to show how many women deliver infants in prison or are restrained while doing so, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said that 4% of state inmates and 3% of federal inmates were pregnant when they first were jailed in 2008.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has condemned the practice, saying that it unnecessarily risks women's health. Federal prisons and five states -- California, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas and Vermont -- have largely banned the procedure. The bill is expected to be signed by Paterson would ban restraints on inmates giving birth, except when needed to keep a woman from injuring herself, medical workers or correctional officers. In these cases, one of the woman's wrists would be cuffed while being transported from prison to the hospital. Paterson said, "A woman giving birth to a child is hardly the first person that is going to be thinking of trying to escape or create any kind of problem." State lawmakers in Massachusetts and Tennessee also are considering bans. Advocates say that there have been no attempted escapes in the wake of the bans.

Corrections departments and unions have been critical of the bans, saying that any policy that prohibits shackling could put medical staff and correctional officers at risk. Donn Rowe, president of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, said, "We certainly use a common-sense approach regarding shackling, whether it's females or males," adding, "A blanket policy … doesn't fit all cases with something of this nature when you're dealing with some possibly dangerous inmates" (Salazar, AP/Boston Globe, 8/26).

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