2 March 2006 - 11:33pm
Because despite being in labor, she might try to escape
That seems to be the rationale behind shackling women giving birth to beds:
Though her doctor and two nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit says, the guard in charge of her refused.
"She was shackled all through labor," said Ms. Nelson's lawyer, Cathleen V. Compton. "The doctor who was delivering the baby made them remove the shackles for the actual delivery at the very end."
Not even childbirth can shake the vindictiveness of the Culture of Punishment.
Corrections officials say they must strike a balance between security and the well-being of the pregnant woman and her child.
"Though these are pregnant women," said Dina Tyler, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections, "they are still convicted felons, and sometimes violent in nature. There have been instances when we've had a female inmate try to hurt hospital staff during delivery."
Yeah, we've had women screaming and writhing and sometimes kicking and swinging their arms -- not at all the docile and obedient fish we expect in our care.
Dee Ann Newell, who has taught classes in prenatal care and parenting for female prisoners in Arkansas for 15 years, said she found the practice of shackling women in labor appalling.
"If you have ever seen a woman have a baby," Ms. Newell said, "you know we squirm. We move around."
Ah, but what does she know? She's just a chick!
Many states justify restraints because the prisoners remain escape risks, though there have apparently been no instances of escape attempts by women in labor.
"You can't convince me that it's ever really happened," Ms. Newell said. "You certainly wouldn't get far."
You never know. These pregnant women, you know, they can be pretty sneaky! I mean, how do you think they got pregnant in the first place?! Take off those shackles and next thing you know they'll -- they'll -- give birth or something!
Ms. Nelson was serving time for identity fraud and writing bad checks when she gave birth at age 30. She weighed a little more than 100 pounds, and her baby, it turned out, weighed nine and a half pounds.
You can see that she represented a clear and present danger to society.
Partly as a consequence of Ms. Nelson's suit, Arkansas has started using softer, more flexible nylon restraints for prisoners deemed to be security risks. They are removed, Ms. Tyler said, during the actual delivery.
Ms. Newell considers that slight progress for the approximately 50 women in Arkansas prisons and jails who give birth each year.
"Childbirth should be a sacred event," said Ms. Newell, a senior justice fellow at the Soros Foundation. "Just because they're prisoners doesn't mean they shouldn't get the usual care."
No, they're prisoners! They don't need coddling! In fact, why not shackle the newborns, too?! Gotta keep the peasants in line, doncha know!
"It is unbelievable that in this day and age a child is born to a woman in shackles," Mr. Erato said. "It sounds like something from slavery 200 years ago."
Welcome to the conservative vision of the future. Just wait until all women are subject to the same treatment. Then we'll see "pro-life" policy in full swing!
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