For a comprehensive look at the practice of shackling incarcerated women in labor in the United States, read Anna Clark's Giving Birth in Chains.
A spirited group of protesters gathered outside New York Gov. David Paterson's office in midtown Manhattan today elicited the governor's promise to sign legislation that would prohibit the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women during labor and after delivery.
Though the Federal Bureau of Prisons has restricted the use of restraints on women in labor, most states do shackle pregnant women when transporting them for delivery; only California, Illinois, Vermont, and New Mexico have banned the practice. New York's bill enjoys bipartisan support from the legislature; ninety days ago, it passed unanimously in the Senate and by a wide margin in the Assembly. The Democratic governor has not signed it yet, says Serena Alfieri, Associate Director of Policy for the Women in Prison Project, in part because the state's Department of Corrections "has weighed heavily on the governor," arguing that the bill was unnecessary. Nonetheless, the DOC has been "sending mixed messages -- claiming both that they don't shackle or that they do it safely."
Can you safely shackle a women in labor? "You can't," argues Alfieri. Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American Public Health Association have said that the practice is never safe. Women are shackled with waist chains, and wrists and ankles are cuffed -- including after C-section. Venita Pinckney gave birth in November 2008, while an inmate at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. She was transported to the hospital in handcuffs, ankle shackles and waist restraints, and she was re-cuffed and shackled immediately after delivery. "It was inhumane," she says. "Just because I'm in prison doesn't mean I have to be treated that way." Erica Knox was shackled to a bedpost during the delivery of her placenta. Recent interviews conducted by the Correctional Association with residents of the Bedford Hills have revealed that, despite the facility's insistence otherwise, its officers continue to shackle women in labor.
Gov. Paterson appeared in person after several rounds of protesters' chants. "We must stop inhumane treatment," he stated, "even if women commit crimes, even if they are incarcerated." Though he told the assembled group, "I will sign the bill," Paterson cited a safety concern regarding a provision of the bill which allows corrections officers to handcuff one wrist in extraordinary circumstances -- when a woman is not in labor, but is being transported for a scheduled C-section or to be induced -- and is a danger to herself or others. Paterson argued that such a practice could endanger a woman if, for example, the vehicle in which she is transported is in a collision. Paterson indicated a willingness to sign the current bill and to amend that section as needed. "That provision is in the bill to acknowledge our concern for the safety of corrections officers," said Tamar Kraft-Stolar, Director of the Women's Prison Project, "and it's a discretionary measure, only to be used in extraordinary circumstances."
"We're 90 percent there," Kraft-Stolar concluded after the governor's appearance. "The measure fully addresses safety issues. It's long overdue, and it's a critical measure to bring our state where incarcerated women can get a minimum level of dignity in labor and delivery."
Tonie Dreher, a recently released woman who witnessed a pregnant woman spend eight hours shackled in transit from Bedford Hills to Albion Correctional Facility, observed, "They're still people, no matter what crimes they commit."
