Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act
The Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act would reform how pregnant, lactating, and postpartum detainees are treated in U.S. immigration detention. It creates a strong presumption that such individuals should be released from custody, significantly limits the use of restraints, and requires access to comprehensive health care and reproductive services. The bill also imposes set procedures for daily operations in detention facilities—ranging from eligibility determinations and weekly status reviews to informed consent, rights notices, and regular reporting and auditing—to improve transparency, oversight, and the safety and well-being of pregnant detainees and new mothers. In short, the bill shifts DHS detention policy toward prioritizing release for pregnant and postpartum individuals, tightens restraints and medical privacy rules, expands mandated health care services, and establishes ongoing reporting and oversight to monitor compliance and outcomes.
Key Points
- 1Presumption of release for pregnant, lactating, or postpartum detainees; limited detention only in narrowly defined, exceptional circumstances with an individualized, risk-based justification.
- 2Prohibition and limits on restraints: generally ban restraints on pregnant, laboring, delivering, lactating, or postpartum detainees, with tightly circumscribed exceptions using the least restrictive means and prohibiting certain restraint types and positions (e.g., no leg/waist/4-point restraints; no restraints during labor/delivery).
- 3Extensive health care and consent: detainees must have access to comprehensive health services, including prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care, reproductive health, contraception, abortion services, HIV testing/treatment, lactation services, menstrual hygiene products, and mental health care; all services require informed consent.
- 4Access to facilities and safety planning: facilities must coordinate with the nearest maternity hospital, have emergency transfer policies, and ensure care if a detainee cannot be moved quickly to a medical center.
- 5Rights notices, training, and transparency: detainees must receive understandable notices of their rights; DHS staff involved with detained/pregnant individuals must receive regular training; facilities must regularly report on restraint use, detainee counts, releases, detention durations, and pregnancy outcomes, with annual audits and public-facing, redacted reporting.