(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A new report finds the majority of Illinois jails are failing to provide proper care to pregnant and postpartum inmates.
“This is the first step in making sure that Illinois does right in terms of reproductive health and reproductive rights,” said Alexis Mansfield with the Women’s Justice Institute WJI).
The WJI and ACLU of Illinois are behind the new Expecting Justice: The Status of Pregnancy and Reproductive Health Care Policies in Illinois County Jails.
“What we found is that there is a lack of carefully crafted, written policies. That is having a detrimental impact on people detained in county jails, resulting in inadequate and sometimes illegal care,” Mansfield said.
One woman detailed her experience at the Will County Jail.
“One time, I went to take a shower and didn’t know the facility was on lockdown,” she said. “They called an emergency response team on me. I kept saying I was pregnant but I was handcuffed. They said they couldn’t tell because I was too fat, and they pushed my stomach into the wall.”
Officials are calling for a number of changes statewide, including the ban of unnecessary restraints of pregnant and postpartum inmates in all counties and the creation of a task force to collect data and make additional recommendations.
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