Lawmakers Seek Better Conditions for Pregnant Inmates
January 21st, 2020 by Mike Vasilinda
Prison reform advocates are calling on the state to provide more humane treatment for inmates who give birth inside prison walls.
Several inmates were denied help during their deliveries, and at least one miscarriage occurred without medical help.
State Representative Dianne Hart of Tampa has been crusading for prison reform and believes the state can do better.
“We are hoping that women won’t be allowed to give birth by themselves, for one, and that they are not shackled during childbirth. I believe they need some time to bond with that baby before the babies are taken. When I visited, and you know I visited 47 institutions, I am finding the babies are taken and the parents have no idea where that baby has gone to, I just think that’s a travesty,” said Hart.
The same group successfully got the prison system to provide sanitary napkins to female prisons last year.
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