\nCassandra Brawley went into labor two and a half years ago
\nat the Washington State Corrections Center for Women on a Friday the 13th.
\nThough she was experiencing distress \u2013 her water broke and she was leaking
\nbloody discharge \u2013 and she repeatedly expressed to prison officials that
\n\u201csomething was wrong\u201d, still her pleas went largely ignored. After three days
\nof labor pain and obvious suffering, Cassandra was shackled for transport to
\nthe hospital where she would eventually undergo an emergency cesarean section.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\u201cThe belly chain was wrapped around me until they admitted
\n\tme into the hospital. And then they shackled my foot to the bed while I was
\n\thaving labor contractions,\u201d Brawley told me.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nAs a medium security prisoner, convicted of second-degree
\ntheft, Brawley was not considered a threat to herself or others. She had never
\nbeen convicted of a violent crime and was an exemplary prisoner. Still, Brawley
\nwas kept chained and shackled to the bed for hours during painful labor
\ncontractions and while she was given an epidural.\n<\/p>\n\nAccording to a complaint<\/a> filed
\nin court by the women\u2019s rights advocacy organization Legal Voice against the
\nWashington State Department of Corrections, on Brawley\u2019s behalf, \u201cA physician
\nattempted to induce labor by breaking the amniotic sac, but found the sac
\nempty.\u201d Brawley was immediately wheeled down to surgery to undergo an emergency
\nc-section \u2013 still in ankle chains. It was only at the command of the physician
\nperforming the surgery that she was unshackled \u2013 and then only until the
\nsurgery was complete.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cThey shackled my foot to the bed right after the c-section
\n\twas over. It was awful. And 18 hours after I gave birth to my son, you know how
\n\tyou have to get up and walk around so you don\u2019t get blood clots? The first time
\n\tI stood up and tried to walk, they shackled my feet together,\u201d said Brawley.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nIn fact, Brawley was kept shackled to the bed throughout her
\nentire 3 days in the hospital.\n<\/p>\n\nLegal Voice claims that the Washington State Department of
\nCorrections (DOC) violated Ms. Brawley\u2019s constitutional rights when they
\nshackled Brawley during labor, in opposition to its own policy and are bringing
\nher case to court.\n<\/p>\n\nCurrently, the Washington state DOC policy allows shackling
\nof pregnant women in the third trimester only and not during labor and delivery
\nbut Sara Ainsworth, the lawyer spearheading Brawley\u2019s case, is also involved in
\na legislative effort to ensure a complete prohibition on shackling of pregnant
\nwomen in Washington state.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cIt defies common sense to risk a pregnant woman\u2019s health,
\n\tsafety and dignity by shackling her while she\u2019s in the process of giving
\n\tbirth,\u201d says Ainsworth.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nThe Senate version of HB 2747 dropped on Monday, January 18th,
\n2010 and prohibits Washington state correctional facilities of any kind from
\nshackling pregnant incarcerated women or youth except in \u201cextraordinary
\ncircumstances, where a corrections officer makes an individualized
\ndetermination that restraints are necessary\u201d to prevent escape or the woman
\nfrom injuring herself or others. In this scenario, however, the least
\nrestrictive restraints must be used and if a medical professional or youth
\nrequests that the restraints not be used, the corrections officer must
\nimmediately remove them.\u00a0 <\/span>Shackles
\nmay never be used on pregnant prisoners, as outlined in the bill, during labor,
\ndelivery and the post-partum recovery period with no exceptions and pertains to
\nall institutions from juvenile detention centers and municipal jails to state
\nprisons.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re lobbying for the broadest protection possible.
\n\tOne reason that it is important to limit restraints throughout pregnancy
\n\tis to avoid the situation where a corrections official is deciding whether or
\n\tnot someone is in labor and using their own judgment to decide whether or not
\n\tsomeone should be shackled,\u201d Ainsworth told me.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nIf the legislation passes, Washington will become the
\nseventh state in the country to ban the use of restraints on pregnant and
\nlaboring incarcerated women. Most recently, New York, New Mexico and Texas have
\nall passed laws prohibiting the use of shackles on pregnant women in nearly all
\ncircumstances. Thanks in large part to the Rebecca Project the Federal Bureau
\nof Prisons has a policy against shackling pregnant women as well.\n<\/p>\n\nMalika Saada Saar, Executive Director of the Rebecca
\nProject, writes<\/a>
\non RH Reality Check that, \u201cThe Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in September 2008 ended
\nshackling mothers as a matter of routine course in all federal correctional
\nfacilities.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nState governments have found the practice to be cruel and
\nunusual punishment, inhumane, degrading and a violation of human rights
\nstandards. And medical organizations from the American College of Obstetricians
\nand Gynecologists and the American Public Health Association to the American
\nCollege of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) have forcefully condemned the practice as
\nwholly unsafe for both mother and baby.\n<\/p>\n\nTina Johnson, Certified Nurse-Midwife and the Director of Professional Practice
\nand Health Policy at ACNM told me, \u201cUnder no circumstances should a woman be
\nconfined in a way that inhibits her ability to safely delivery her baby. Labor
\nand birth are active, physical processes that require the fetus to work with
\nthe mother\u2019s body in maneuvering through the birth canal. A woman should not
\nlie on her back during labor, as this can severely restrict blood flow to the
\nplacenta. In addition, there are certain complications, such as hemorrhage\u2026in
\nwhich the ability to reposition quickly is critical to facilitating a safe
\noutcome.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nJohnson is clear: \u201cShackling a woman during pregnancy is cruel,
\ninhumane and unsafe.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nJust ask Kimberly Mays.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\u201cI felt like an animal giving birth in front of its human
\n\tmasters,\u201d Mays told me over the phone.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nOn August 2, 2000, Mays went into labor at the Washington
\nState Corrections Center for Women.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cBefore being transported by ambulance, I was shackled \u2013
\n\tboth hands and feet. I was pretty scared, even though this was not my first
\n\ttime giving birth to a child. I was shackled to the ambulance bed all the way
\n\tto St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital [in Tacoma, WA], in excruciating pain\u2026\n\t<\/p>\n\n\tWhen I got to the labor room, I thought some reprieve from
\n\tthe shackles would occur. On the contrary, only the leg shackles were removed
\n\tso I could be examined and one wrist was shackled to the bed.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nMays remained shackled during labor and delivery, screaming
\nin pain. According to Mays, the attending nurse \u201cforcefully covered\u201d her mouth
\nto get her to stop screaming.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cInstead of a mother who was about to give birth, I lost all
\n\tsense of dignity and self-respect,\u201d she wrote in her birth story, sent to me
\n\tvia email. <\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nAfter giving birth, Mays remained shackled to the bed,
\neither by one arm or one leg – only unlocked to go to the bathroom or to
\nshower.\n<\/p>\n\nSimply, Kimberly writes, \u201cThat experience was the most
\ndemoralizing event in my entire life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nMays, like Brawley, was incarcerated for a non-violent
\noffense and held as a minimum-security prisoner. Brawley told me, \u201cI was a
\nmodel prisoner and had not one single infraction while in prison. I took every
\nself-help course. I was in college in prison and going to church three times a
\nweek.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nToday Kimberly Mays is two-quarters shy of earning a Masters
\nin Public Administration at the Evergreen State College in Washington State.
\nShe serves on several boards for organizations \u201cthat serve our most marginalized
\ncitizens\u201d and is a mother to ten children.\n<\/p>\n\nMays recently testified at the hearing for the Senate bill
\nin the Washington state legislature and says that she hopes her story \u201cwill
\nhelp to alleviate the disgraceful practice of shackling women during labor,
\nwhich in turn will help alleviate the negative behaviors of prison guards and
\nhospital staff toward women who give birth while incarcerated.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nBut hopefully both Mays and Brawley\u2019s stories will do even
\nmore than that. The power to change these policies lies not only in the obvious
\npain and suffering of these two women but in what their stories can excavate
\nabout why<\/em> exactly this practice is
\nneeded at all.\n<\/p>\n\nWhen asked if there has ever been a case recorded of an
\nincarcerated woman in labor ever attempting to escape or posing a threat to
\nherself or others in the United States, Sara Ainsworth told me, \u201cWe have heard
\nno stories of any incidents in our state – ever.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nThe Seattle-based website Publicola<\/a> reported on
\nthe lack of any real opposition to the Washington state bill at the hearing
\nthis month:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cSome law enforcement lobbyists, like Jo Arlow of the
\n\tWashington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs raised concerns about
\n\tthe language of the bill. She said there are rare circumstances where restraint
\n\tmight be necessary for safety\u2019s sake (though she couldn\u2019t actually produce an
\n\texample of such a case when asked), but overall her group supports the bill.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nThe Women in Prison Project in New York City calls shackling
\n\u201cunnecessary\u201d as women cannot run with any significant level of speed during
\nlabor or after delivery and therefore are not a flight risk. An informational
\ndocument from the project states:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cNew York City jail policies restricting restraints have
\n\tbeen in effect for 20 years without incidents of escape or harm to staff.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nOne significant reason for this beyond a woman\u2019s absolute
\ninability to do much more than push, groan and focus on the birthing process
\nduring labor is that the majority of incarcerated women in the U.S. are in
\nprison for non-violent<\/em> crimes.\n<\/p>\n\nAccording to the Women\u2019s Prison Association\u2019s Institute on
\nWomen & Criminal Justice, two-thirds of women in prison are there for
\nnon-violent offenses. Both drug-related crimes and property offenses make up
\nthis 2\/3 number. A report put out by the National Institute of Corrections in
\n2003, written by Barbara Owen & Stephanie Covington, notes that \u201cthe
\nmajority of incarcerated women are in for first-time, non violent offenses.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\nThe number of women in prison is only increasing. Over the
\nlast thirty years, the female prison population has grown more than 800% while
\nthe number of men in prison has grown by only half that.\n<\/p>\n\nWith 5 percent of incarcerated women in the U.S. pregnant, and the
\nnumber of women in prison increasing, it\u2019s critical that as a country we make
\nsome clear decisions about the ways in which we treat pregnant women and their
\nnewborn babies. If our goals are to protect the health and safety of pregnant
\nwomen and their babies rather than endanger, and ensure the best possible
\nhealth outcome for mother and child regardless of whether a woman is
\nincarcerated at the time of her labor or not, then we are failing, overall, as
\na nation.\n<\/p>\n\nLet\u2019s review then:\n<\/p>\n
\nPregnant and laboring women are proven not<\/em> to be safety or flight risks. Medical and health professionals
\nfrom obstetricians to nurse-midwives consider the practice of shackling
\npregnant and laboring women harmful to womens\u2019 and newborns\u2019 health.\u00a0 <\/span>Keeping women in ankle, arm and belly
\nrestraints while pregnant and\/or laboring a federal court has now ruled
\nunconstitutional, while six states have banned the practice. Finally, women
\nthemselves are speaking up and letting the world know that being shackled
\nduring pregnancy and birth is nothing short of inhumane, robbing them of their
\nself-dignity and human rights.\n<\/p>\n\nA sea change is on the horizon in the ways in which we think
\nabout this issue. It is likely that Washington State will pass a bill for the
\nGovernor to sign. The Rebecca Project continues its campaign, on a national
\nlevel, against shackling with the work of its unlikely yet powerful collection<\/a>
\nof anti-shackling allies.\u00a0 <\/span>Cassandra\u2019s
\ntrial is set for June of this year where a judge will hear her case against the
\nWashington State Department of Corrections. Through all of this, both Cassandra
\nand Kim continue their work as mothers like any and all of us, tending to the
\nchildren who came into this world unaware of the struggle and injustice that
\nsurrounded them. But for these two women and so many others in this country,
\ntheir stories of giving birth in chains will never leave them.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\t\u201cI am not a worthless piece of trash, but rather a valuable
\n\tasset to people, families, and the community at large, \u201c says Kimberly Mays.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cassandra Brawley went into labor two and a half years ago at the Washington State Corrections Center for Women on a Friday the 13th. Though she was experiencing distress \u2013 her water broke and she was leaking bloody discharge \u2013 and she repeatedly expressed to prison officials that \u201csomething was wrong\u201d, still her pleas went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}