The Health Births for Incarcerated Women Act takes effect July 1, 2014. This  law prohibits the use of a physical restraints on an inmate while the inmate is in labor or during delivery in certain circumstances. But don’t sit back, there is still work ahead!

You should know, that during the last hours of the bill process important provisions were removed that would require outside documentation and monitoring of implementation of the law. Also removed from the bill was clear language protecting women in pretrial detention (jails) across the state. Without clear directives for both medical and correctional staff, transparency and accountability in progress on implementation, and protections for each and every detained or incarcerated women across the state, we cannot stop!