Albany, NY – This week, the New York Senate passed the CARE Act and the Anti-Shackling Bill, both sponsored by State Senator Julia Salazar. 

The CARE Act would require State and local correctional facilities in New York to provide a basic quality of care for incarcerated pregnant and postpartum individuals, as well as their babies. Nearly half of all pregnant incarcerated individuals in New York receive no prenatal care.  

The CARE Act would also address the routine separation of newborns from their mothers who are incarcerated by requiring correctional facilities to have bonding spaces. 

The Anti-Shackling Bill would prohibit the dangerous and degrading use of restraints on pregnant and postpartum individuals in law enforcement custody in all but the most extenuating circumstances. And, it would ensure that no one in active labor is subjected to restraints. 

State Senator Julia Salazar released the following statement: 

“Our criminal justice system frequently treats pregnant New Yorkers and their babies with such disregard. There are documented instances of women being shackled to their hospital beds as they are in active labor. Babies have died because of the lack of quality prenatal, delivery, and postpartum healthcare available in our prisons and jails. The CARE Act and the Anti-Shackling Bill would help ensure we treat all pregnant New Yorkers, including those who are in police custody or incarcerated, with the care they and their newborns deserve.” 

Helpful Examples: 

• Recently, a 33-year-old New Yorker who was nine months pregnant was forced to give birth in a court room in front of a judge and other spectators. She was handcuffed behind her back while in active delivery with no medical personnel in sight. She was there on low-level charges that were dismissed two days later.  

• In 2006, Rebecca Figueroa was handcuffed to the bed and restrained by a leg shackle while in active labor and while surrounded by guards. After delivery, Rebecca remained restrained to the bed. 

• In 2022, a woman held at Onondaga County’s local jail was in labor for more than 30 hours by herself before the facility allowed her to see a physician. She was not transported to the hospital until after she gave birth, and her baby died hours later. The charges against her were later dropped.