Human Rights Violation: Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor

by Elenora Giddings Ivory

March 8th marked International Women's Day. What more important right could there be for a woman than to give birth to a child in circumstances that are as comfortable as possible? Yet, we can still pick up our newspapers and find stories that describe the shackling of incarcerated women, which may include legs and waist apparatus, while in the throes of labor. Women move around during labor in order to find a comfortable position.

Amnesty International USA recently released a report that says 23 states have corrections departments that allow restraints to be used on women in labor. Only California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia and Illinois do not use restraints. California and Illinois have laws against it. The District of Columbia, Washington and Connecticut simply avoid it. The New York State legislature is considering banning the practice.

Amnesty International's findings are that the Federal Bureau of Prisons also supports using restraints. They rationalize this by saying that some women are violent and may harm the medical personnel who are there to help them. They also say they need to deter any escape attempt. It is hard to imagine a woman in the midst of labor becoming a flight risk. If there is a move to flee, she is not likely to go very far or move very fast. (This report can be accessed on Amnesty's Web site.) Go there to find out where your state correctional system stands on this issue and what your state's practices are toward women in labor.

Amnesty International has as its focus the violations of human rights, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by the United States in 1948 along with many other nations around the world. Article 5 of the Declaration states that, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." To many advocates of justice for women this practice of restraining women in labor would fall under the heading of "degrading treatment or punishment."

On March 2, 2006, the New York Times ran an article entitled, "Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor," which called the nation's attention to this practice. Over the years, there have been occasional articles in other newspapers about it. Many of us thought it had come to an end, but we see that it continues in some places. The New York Times article pointed to a few specific instances. Writer Adam Liptak wrote about a woman named Shawana. He said:

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."

Shackling not only endangers the woman, but it also makes what may have been an easy delivery a difficult one for medical personnel. It compromises the woman's ability to deliver safely. It endangers the child being born. (Several states have law suits pending against them with regard to this procedure.)

The United States has not signed onto the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Principle 4 of the document addresses the right to 'adequate pre-natal and post-natal care' for the woman and the child. In full, Principle 4 states:

The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and develop in health; to this end special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing recreation and medical services.

A 1999 report by the Justice Department indicates that approximately five percent of female prisoners arrive pregnant; this means about 2,000 women annually — based on research by the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group in Washington, D.C. The group estimates that approximately 40,000 women are admitted to the nation's prisons annually. Many of these women are in prison for non-violent offenses — passing bad checks, shoplifting, etc . There is no reason for them to suddenly turn violent on the delivery table.

ACTION:

This is an issue at all levels of government. There are not particular bill numbers. For women in local jails awaiting trial, it might be the county government allowing this practice. For women held in State prisons or Federal facilities, it is that respective level of government that can make a compassionate decision to not shackle women during childbirth. Go to Amnesty International's United States site and check into the practice of your state system. You may need to call your county jail to ask what their practices are. You can contact the governor of your state, if you do not like state practices toward women who are pregnant or in child birth.

Letters and calls to the officials in charge of the government's decision-making would be appropriate. Letters to the editors of your local newspapers would also bring attention to the issue, and encourage others in your community to get involved. To contact media in your area, go to our home page, find the Contact Congress box, insert your Zip Code and click "GO!" Then click on the tab "Media Guide." Enter your Zip Code into the Local Media box. From there you can select which newspapers and news services to contact with your letter.

General Assembly

2000 Statement - PC(USA), pp. 233-235

[The 212th General Assembly (2000) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approves the "Resolution on Police Accountability," and the related actions:]

a. Recommend the following actions to the General Assembly Council and the middle governing bodies:

Urge presbyteries to facilitate the convening of meetings or other appropriate mechanisms to encourage and support concerned law-enforcement officers who are struggling to faithfully uphold their oath of office; and also to support exchanges of their concerns with the administrators, colleagues of their department, and government, civil rights, and community organizations.

Further urge presbyteries to speak out publicly and forcefully on the need for justice and accountability in law enforcement both at the regional and national levels.

b. Recommend the following actions to local churches by directing the Stated Clerk to post the recommendations and resolution on the PC(USA) web site:

Encourage local churches to join in ecumenical and interfaith efforts to establish community-based programs designed to evaluate, monitor, and assist law-enforcement agencies in their efforts to establish and administer sound polices and procedures that will direct the highest level of ethical behavior for law-enforcement officers in assuring the fair and just treatment of all people and in furthering the process of accountability by helping to develop mechanisms for civilian review.

Urge local churches to join in community initiatives that provide wages and incentives for service, which are designed to attract and retain police officers of the highest skill, intelligence, and integrity.

Urge local churches to join in efforts to assist law-enforcement agencies in developing recruitment and screening processes that identify and eliminate candidates with prejudicial racial and cultural biases.

Urge local churches to ensure that officers are empowered to uphold the law and not abuse their authority, that training include psychological testing, counseling, antiracism training as an in-service component and for new recruits.

Urge local churches to call upon law-enforcement agencies to encourage them through their training, disciplinary, and enforcement procedures to make every possible effort to remove from their ranks officers who display racial prejudices, and/or those who do not respect the life of all persons, and/or those who engage in acts of brutality and excessive force.

Urge local churches to call upon police departments and other municipal leaders to support and encourage law-enforcement personnel who do their work responsibly and to provide assurance that the jobs of those who seek to counteract the misdeeds of their colleagues will not be lost or their promotions jeopardized.

Urge local churches to work with their state legislatures to strengthen the laws prohibiting harassment, racial profiling, or injury to persons who are targeted because of race, gender, or sexual orientation.

Urge local churches to call upon law-enforcement agencies to make available data on victims of police brutality and racial profiling in order to aid in policymaking studies.