While I tried not to use too much text in my prezi, I had a lot of notes and printed out this script to ensure that I knew what I was talking about for my oral presentation. As you can see, I put a lot of thought into this portion of the advocacy project and made sure I was well prepared. This outline is what really helped me to crank out my workshop draft.

Bound by Injustice 

Hi everyone, today I’m here to talk to you about the unjust practice of shackling on incarcerated mothers…

Problem

• Shackling is a widespread practice in the U.S. -- it is when pregnant inmates are handcuffed during transport from prisons to hospitals and then chained to the hospital bed thereafter (either using wrist chains or leg chains)
• Shackling poses significant threats to a mother and her baby:
• Hinders a woman’s ability to move to alleviate pain during labor (resulting stress on woman can decrease flow of oxygen to fetus -- physical damage)
• Interferes with assessment or delays diagnosis:
• In one instance, a woman was in labor and her legs were shackled together. The baby was coming, and because she was shackled to the bed they couldn’t put her feet up on the stirrups or open her legs. The officer
• Because I was shackled to the bed, they couldn’t remove the lower part of the bed for the delivery, and they couldn’t put my feet in the stirrups. My feet were still shackled together, and I couldn’t get my legs apart. The doctor called for the officer, but the offer had gone down the hall. No one else could unlock the shackles, and my baby was coming but I couldn’t open my legs”
• Increase a woman’s risk of falling and reduces ability to break her fall (when standing/being transported)
• Has psychological consequences (obviously humiliating/inflicts trauma, directly linked to depression and anxiety during postpartum phase of pregnancy)

• As of 2016, there are only 22 states that have anti-shackling laws, which means over half of the country still permits the use of restraints on pregnant inmates during child birth (picture of states)

Background

• Well why is there shackling in the first place?
• The introduction of gender-neutral policies in the 1970s in response to civil rights and women’s rights movements allowed for nonviolent female offenders to be treated the same way as violent male felons
• (Men are always shackled when they’re transported out of a correctional facility to receive medical care, and that policy has been applied across the board without considering the unique needs of women)
• HOWEVER, less than half of all female inmates have been convicted of a violent offense, indicating that many of these incarcerated women are serving time under mandatory sentences for drug related crimes (in which case, shackling isn’t justified if you’re not considered a “high security risk” criminal)

Statistics

• Thanks to the War on Drugs, women are the fastest growing population in correctional facilities (because a lot were caught up in larger conspiracy prosecutions involving drug dealer husbands or boyfriends they were associated with)
• As you can see.. In the last 30 years the incarcerated female population grew from about 13,000 to 113,00 (that’s about 1000% increase) …
• Currently there are over 205,000 women behind bars  
• About 80,000 are mothers
• And about 1,400 of these women give birth in prison every year
• The rising female incarceration rates have led to increased need for reproductive rights and prenatal healthcare for female inmates because pregnancy and childbirth are specific aspects of healthcare only experienced by women

Argument/Thesis

• Like I said back here, a lot of states have already banned shackling, and while these laws are a step in the right direction, there is still much to be done because the implementation of anti-shackling laws presents many challenges

• Because of vague language in anti-shackling laws, prisons are able to illegally use restraints on pregnant women during labor.
• For shackling practices to stop on the ground, my position is legislation based:
• States should implement accountable laws that (1) notify incarcerated women of their rights, (2) post this information in public areas throughout correctional facilities, (2) educate and train correctional staff, hospital staff, and EMTs about the law, (4) and require prisons and correctional facilities to report incidences when restraints were used on pregnant women.

Advocacy

• The Women in Prison Project advocacy group in New York did an in-depth 5 year study of prison health care for women and revealed a shockingly poor standard of care, the routine denial of basic reproductive health and hygiene items, and the continued practice of shackling pregnant women during labor despite a 2011 law prohibiting it (this is only in New York)
• Tamar Kraft Stolar, who’s the Director of the Women in Prison Project, says “the best solution to the problems identified in this report is to stop incarcerating women all together”
• In a system designed by and mostly stocked with men, women's needs aren’t really being considered (so why put them in prison in the first place?)
• While yes, I do agree on her behalf that this is a great solution, women and mothers especially should not incarcerated but this is just never going to happen in the United states considering
• The large cash flow that comes from the prison industrial complex (like we learned in Michelle Alexander)
• And female incarceration rates are actually on the rise (so to stop putting them in prison is not realistic)
• Maybe if we were a less greed and fear-driven society we wouldn’t have to put “drug criminals” behind bars

Opposition

• The opposition of shackling comes from Correctional Officers and Prison Staff who deem that women are violent and evil creatures who don’t deserve to be mothers
• One officer from Cook County Illinois says
• "We have to bring inmates to the same area that the general public comes to... if you’re laying [sick] in a hospital bed, and in the next hospital bed is a woman who’s in on a double murder charge, because she’s pregnant she shouldn't be handcuffed to the side of the bed – I think if you’re the person laying [sick] in bed next to her you might disagree." - Steve Patterson, Spokesman for Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois
• While yes, it’s true that there are violent female offenders who pose security risks, however there are still other forms of security that can be used in place of shackling
• Armed guards already accompany pregnant women and are stationed directly outside of the hospital room
• Modern hospitals have adequate security systems
• And women who are high-risk criminals should be in an isolated hospital room, not a shared one

Conclusion

• Women have been underrepresented at all levels in the criminal justice system, and this has resulted in a penal system in which the specific health needs of female prisoners are often forgotten or ignored. In particular, the routine practice of shackling pregnant inmates throughout the United States has been condemed by many multiple advocacy groups and international humanitarian organizations, yet, a variety of factors allow state prisons to illegally restrain women during childbirth despite laws that have been enacted banning the egregious procedure. Despite the progress that’s been made through human rights advocacy, there’s still much to be done. Though certain freedoms are taken away in prison, being in a correctional facility does not cancel a woman’s basic right to life and humanity.