I wrote an article last month, shared here on Isak, about the shackling of pregnant women in U.S. prisons, jails, and detention centers. We're talking about shackling that even happens during labor and delivery, people. There is no snuffling around the issue: it is a plainly brutal practice with very little to justify it.
Well, I'm pleased to follow up on that sordid fact with wonderful news. Gov. Paterson of New York appeared last week at a demonstration outside of his Manhattan office. He pledged to sign the legislation now before him that would ban the use of shackles on pregnant inmates during labor and after delivery. This is huge: New York looks to become only the fifth state in the U.S. to make shackling wholly illegal, joining Illinois, California, Vermont, and New Mexico.
Cheers and thanks to the many, many people who have been following this campaign, supporting it, moving it forward, and winning it, many of whom were kind enough to share their stories with me. I am awed.
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