A Shackled Delivery

Pregnant inmates forced to give birth in shackles. Not only is this inhumane, it is symbolic of the treatment of women in this society.

According to this New York Time article, this is a common practice and only two states forbid it.

According to an Amnesty International U.S.A. report, 23 state corrections departments and the federal Bureau of Prisons currently enforce policies that allow pregnant inmates to be restrained during labor.

Only recently have states addressed this cruel practice. Read here: California Legislature Considering Bill That Would Ban Shackling of Prison Inmates During Childbirth.

I think it’s a metaphor for what this nation is doing to women in general, let alone in prison. We are forced to reproduce against our wills, forced to give birth in chains like slaves to the patriarch, as we are mere vessels for the supreme fetus. We are bought and sold like cattle, institutionally owned, and silenced.