Albany, New York – Today the New York Senate passed Senate Bill S4583A, also known as the Compassion and Reproductive Equity Act or the CARE Act. The CARE Act is one of several key bills Senator Salazar has advocated for in her efforts to reform New York’s flawed prison system. The bill outlines comprehensive policy for ensuring basic quality of care for incarcerated pregnant and post-partum individuals, as well as their babies.  

Senator Salazar, Chair of the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, released the following statement in response: 

“All infants and their mothers, including those behind bars, deserve access to basic healthcare. Yet New York's prisons and jails continuously deny incarcerated pregnant individuals adequate prenatal care, post-partum care, and care for their babies. In fact, nearly half of pregnant incarcerated individuals receive no prenatal care, which increases the likelihood of infant mortality, premature births, and NICU placements. The CARE Act is a step to break these harmful patterns, achieve reproductive justice, and ensure incarcerated pregnant people and their babies are treated with dignity. Thank you to the brilliant students from the State Policy Advocacy Clinic at Cornell University’s Brooks School of Public Policy who worked diligently with us on this bill and whose research made this possible.”