Abstract: Perinatal Shackling—the practice of restraining incarcerated pregnant individuals before, during, and after labor—reflects a historical pattern of systemic neglect and control over marginalized bodies. While legal precedents affirm the rights of incarcerated individuals to necessary medical care, the persistence of this practice highlights the gap between legal protections and lived experiences. This paper explores how history informs contemporary debates on reproductive justice in prisons, emphasizing the ethical urgency of interdisciplinary collaboration in mitigating health disparities. By examining perinatal shackling through the lens of bioethics and the humanities, this project critically engages with bioethical principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice while drawing upon feminist ethics and the ethics of care. The interplay between historical narratives of reproductive control and modern correctional policies reveals how past injustices continue to shape institutional practices. Understanding these legacies allows us to reimagine policies that prioritize human dignity over punitive control. This study employs a two-pronged approach: an empirical review of state-level anti-shackling statutes and a normative ethical analysis using casuistry and reflective equilibrium. Our country’s legal environment informs us about society’s cultural perception of what rights incarcerated women are entitled to. Through an understanding of carceral perspectives, we centralize the perspective of the inmate and examine polices taking into consideration the interests of all stakeholders (e.g. correctional officers, medical professionals, and the pregnant inmate’s child or fetus). Perinatal shackling requires not only legal and medical reforms but also, a broader cultural shift in how we conceptualize justice, care, and bodily autonomy.
After participating in this conference, attendees should be able to:
Identify the current state-level legislative landscape related to perinatal shackling and explain the modern legal justifications used to restrict the rights of pregnant incarcerated individuals.
Analyze the ethical gaps between perinatal shackling practices and U.S. legislation through the lens of feminist ethics and principlism.
Evaluate policy-based strategies designed to protect the rights, health, well-being, and dignity of incarcerated pregnant individuals.
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