Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor

Sapphire Blue

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Thu Mar-02-06 05:48 AM
Original message

Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor

Edited on Thu Mar-02-06 06:26 AM by Sapphire Blue

Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: March 2, 2006

Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital on Sept. 20, 2003. Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who had been given nothing stronger than Tylenol all day, begged, according to court papers, to have the shackles removed.

Though her doctor and two nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit says, the guard in charge of her refused.

"She was shackled all through labor," said Ms. Nelson's lawyer, Cathleen V. Compton. "The doctor who was delivering the baby made them remove the shackles for the actual delivery at the very end."

Despite sporadic complaints and occasional lawsuits, the practice of shackling prisoners in labor continues to be relatively common, state legislators and a human rights group said. Only two states, California and Illinois, have laws forbidding the practice.

(snip)

"We found this was going on in some institutions in California and all over the United States," Ms. Lieber {a Democratic assemblywoman from Mountain View} said. "It presents risks not only for the inmate giving birth, but also for the infant."

Continued @ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/national/02shackles.html

Edited to add...

Women's Human Rights
Abuse of Women in Custody: Sexual Misconduct and the Shackling of Pregnant Women

An Updated State-by-State Survey of Polices and Practices in the USA

http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/custody/

(Excerpt from the Introduction)

Shackling of Pregnant Women
Amnesty International is extremely concerned by the continuing lack of legislation and policies to protect pregnant women from being restrained or shackled when it could be harmful to their pregnancy and child. Lack of mobility may hamper a woman’s ability to move during contractions to alleviate pain and can be dangerous during transportation due to the risk of falling and an inability to break the fall when restrained. Of most concern is the delay restraints may cause if complications arise during delivery and an emergency C-section must be performed. In such a situation, a delay of even five minutes could result in brain damage for the baby. Postpartum, restraints may also prevent women from breast-feeding and from recovery best accomplished by walking.

International standards restrict the use of restraints to situations where they are strictly necessary to prevent escape, to prevent prisoners from injuring themselves or others and to prevent property damage. International standards further provide that chains and irons shall not be used as restraints. In its 1999 report “Not part of my sentence”: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody, Amnesty International reported that restraints are routinely used on pregnant women in transport and during medical care, although this is not essential to prevent escape or protect people and property. Amnesty International is concerned that these practices continue in many states.

Amnesty International welcomes the heightened awareness of this issue among a small number of departments of corrections that have adopted policies prohibiting restraints during labor and delivery, as well as those that reported that they do not restrain women “in practice.” However, other states still do not have a written policy or even a stated practice guiding correctional staff in this matter. AI believes that only written policies, training on the policies and ultimately legislation prohibiting the use of restraints can adequately and comprehensively protect women from this human rights violation.

Continued @ http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/custody/introduction.html