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The California Legislature unanimously passed a bill to protect pregnant women from shackling; last-minute lobbying puts this important bill at risk.

For the second session in a row, the California Legislature has unanimously passed a bill to prohibit the shackling of pregnant incarcerated women. Will the Governor sign it into law?

Two victories in one day: A federal jury in Tennessee affirms that shackling during labor violates women's rights, and the Virginia Department of Corrections announces that it will no longer engage in the practice.

A new federal court decision adds weight to the campaign to ban the shackling of pregnant women.

As the federal government prepares to implement a law about sexual assault in prison, will it ensure women's access to reproductive health care?

An HIV-positive woman in Florida serving a five-year prison sentence for spitting on a police officer is dying from cancer and has one month to live. Her family is pleading for her release so she can die at home.

Follow Jodi Jacobson on Twitter, @jljacobson

More women—two-thirds of whom are mothers—are behind bars today than at any other point in U.S. history.  But federal and state laws and regulations fail to ensure humane treatment of pregnant women and mothers.

Amanda K. was six months pregnant and went into early labor with a prolapsed umbilical cord. She went to a local hospital for care where she underwent emergency surgery, but unfortunately her son soon died. But, rather than providing the support and compassionate care she and her family needed, the hospital drug tested her. The positive result was used as a basis for reporting her to the police and having her arrested for the crime of “chemical endangerment” of a child.

NPR recounts chilling tales by women who were shackled during labor and childbirth, and reports on the ongoing efforts to end this practice.

Pennsylvania is poised to become the tenth state to restrict the shackling of pregnant women in labor or childbirth, once the governor signs the bill.