The Problem:

Caring for incarcerated pregnant people represents a unique challenge, and even programs with the best intentions are not optimal for this critical developmental time. While incarcerated, pregnant people have had their complaints of contractions, bleeding, and labor ignored and deliver babies in their jail cells or prison cells. A pregnant person can also experience harmful medical conditions such as an ectopic pregnancy, preeclampsia, or placental abruption which can cause long-term physical and mental health trauma for the pregnant person.

Once the baby is born, the postnatal period is considered an essential time frame for the newborn to develop healthy physiologic responses and benefit from the attachment and bonding that occurs during this period. In fact, bonding between newborn and parent can greatly improve the overall health of the newborn and parent. Allowing for this bonding may prevent or reduce long-term health risks such as premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer and type 2 diabetes for the parent, and heart disease, hypertension, obesity and increased likelihood of depression and diabetes for the child.

What the bill does:

Alternatives In Criminal Justice System & Pregnant Persons (HB23-1187) seeks to ensure that every person can give birth, recover from their pregnancy, and care for their newborn in community, regardless of their incarceration status. It recognizes that prison and jail are not appropriate places to address the physiologic and mental health impacts of pregnancy and birth. This policy allows the district attorney or a judge to defer or delay the sentence of a person who is pregnant or in the postpartum period to physically and mentally heal from pregnancy and allows time for the parent and newborn to develop a healthy bond.