National NOW Times >> Spring 2010  >> Article

NOW Calls for End to Shackling of Pregnant Incarcerated Women

Restraining pregnant women with shackles is an alarming trend in U.S. prisons. Only six states have laws expressly condemning the practice. In 2008, NOW Foundation joined the American Medical Women's Association and other allies in filing a brief in support of Shawanna Nelson, who brought suit against the prison system after being shackled during labor and delivery, and NOW's National Combating Racism Advisory Committee continues to work on the cutting-edge of this issue.

Women represent the fastest growing population in U.S. prisons and jails; according to Bureau of Justice Statistics, their numbers more than tripled from 1995 to 2008. The incarceration rate of women of color is disproportionately high, with African-American women representing 30 percent of women in prison, compared to 13 percent in the general female population. As the number of incarcerated women rises, so does the number of pregnant women in prison, making their treatment an even more pressing issue.

Because many states do not have shackling laws on the books, the use of restraints on pregnant women is common, and the methods can vary greatly. Shackling can mean using a combination of handcuffs, leg shackles and belly chains during transportation, labor, delivery, surgery, and recovery. These humiliating, outdated practices severely impede a woman's ability to alleviate pain and to position herself correctly to give birth, when movement is natural and essential. Limited movement can cause a lack of oxygen and fetal distress, and restraints can pose a risk in case of an emergency, when time is a critical factor.

What's the justification for shackling? Many prison facilities cite an alleged flight risk, but no such escape attempts have been reported. As Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach said: "The only justification for it is security, and the idea that a woman who is nine months pregnant, during labor, is able to overpower two armed guards and scale a wall and sprint to freedom is preposterous."

Fortunately, shackling finally is being recognized as a form of cruel and unusual punishment. In October 2009, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled six to five in Nelson v. Norris that it is a constitutional violation to shackle a pregnant inmate's legs to her hospital bed during labor.

NOW passed an anti-shackling resolution in 2009, which states: "All pregnant women in detention or correctional facilities are dehumanized by this practice, [and] women of color are particularly impacted, as black women are incarcerated at a rate 2.66 times that of white women." NOW resolved to "support state legislation to force detention centers, correctional facilities, and hospitals to discontinue shackling pregnant women who are detained or incarcerated during labor and during pre- and post-childbirth transport from detention to medical facilities."

Stand with NOW in supporting the rights of incarcerated women. Educate yourself about the shackling laws in your state, call your representatives and ask them to sponsor or support a bill that outlaws this unsafe, unnecessary and discriminatory practice.