Ending a practice described by medical experts as “barbaric,” the director of North Carolina’s state prisons said Wednesday that women who give birth while they are incarcerated will no longer be restrained or shackled during labor.
Women’s rights advocates applauded the decision, but expressed anger and dismay that North Carolina is now one of just 18 states that specifically bars prison employees from shackling female inmates during childbirth.
“Shackling people during and after childbirth is both cruel and unsafe…This is a matter of life and death for a laboring individual and their child in these situations,” said Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, which led the recent fight in North Carolina to end shackling. “Advocates will continue to work to ensure the strongest version of the policy moves forward and to push for training of staff, so that the policies are consistently enforced.”
In the state, women will no longer be shackled after the onset of labor contractions, during delivery, and immediately following birth. Wrist, waist, and leg restraints will be removed after she is transported to a hospital to give birth, “unless there are reasonable grounds to believe the offender presents an immediate, serious threat of hurting herself, staff, or others” or if she presents “an immediate, credible risk of escape,” according to the News & Observer.
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