Ban shackling of pregnant inmates

WASHINGTON state places itself in good company by becoming the seventh state to halt the unnecessary and inhumane practice of shackling pregnant inmates during labor and delivery.

Doctors from local hospitals testified before the state Legislature in support of passage of House Bill 2747, sponsored by Rep. Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma. Their voices were echoed by the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association's strong opposition to the practice.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshals Service also ban the practice.

Indeed, the state Department of Corrections has a ban, but there is strong evidence that shackling women in labor remains in practice. Cassandra Brawley was an inmate at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor when she was shackled with a belly chain while delivering her son at a hospital.

About 30 to 40 women give birth each year while incarcerated in the state system. Other women give birth while incarcerated in local jails and juvenile-detention centers.

Justice ought not be blind to a woman's pain. The majority of women are not incarcerated for violent crimes, according to statistics kept by the National Bureau of Justice. These women should not endure labor while shackled with chains or leg irons.

Corrections workers would have to show a woman is a flight risk or has a history of violence before using restraints in the third trimester.

Preventing an escape and protecting the public can be done with handcuffs and vigilance.