A real happy ending — UPDATED
The bill took some big strides on Monday.
First, it made it out of the House Judiciary Committee on vote of 10 to 1 in favor. I testified first, followed by a long list of witnesses ranging from activists to a former inmate who gave birth shackled to legal experts to an OB/GYN and Laraine, the nurse-midwife.
One of the lawmakers really didn't understand what was at stake and kept asking how we planned to protect the guards from these dangerous women if they were unshackled. Clearly, this man ha...
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Thanks, Beanbag.One of the representatives asked me how this policy came about. I told him that I imagined it was the result of prisons making policies for men — and then just mindlessly applying them to women, who are a tiny minority of all inmates.
He called the practice "barbaric." And I couldn't agree more.
Right now, there are 63 pregnant women in state prison in Colorado. And I hope most of them benefit from this bill. Some jails will really have to change policy. Their policies were to bring the woman to the hospital, chain her to the bed, and then LEAVE her. What if something goes wrong? Egads!
Now they'll have to bring her and STAY while she has her baby. Much better.
The world can be a stupid place. It's up to all of us to challenge that stupidity.
Whenever I hear about an inane policy like shackling women in labor I always wonder about the origin. What the heck happened that made them think that was necessary or even a good idea? I suppose some women can get cranky during labor, but they're typically too distracted to pull off an escape attempt. I'm just odd like that. I always wonder what cluster-f*ck caused the policy. lol -- Good for you for helping get it changed.
And congratulations also to your son. What a great way to start a big week!