Reproductive Rights on Lockdown: A State-‐by-‐State Prison Policy Analysis of Reproductive Rights, Transparency and Access
Abstract
This
study
reports
the
normative
need
for
transparency
of
correctional
policy
relating
to
pregnancy
during
incarceration.
Today,
anyone
with
a
smartphone
can
access
the
Internet;
it
has
become
the
most
efficient
source
of
obtaining
information.
As
the
number
of
women,
particularly
of
child-‐rearing
age,
incarcerated
yearly
continues
to
rise,
it
is
becoming
more
and
more
apparent
through
litigation
that
there
are
not
policies
written
or
accessible
to
incarcerated
women
imprisoned
in
the
United
States.
The
literature
suggests
that
written
policies
are
not
only
needed
in
correctional
institutions,
but
that
there
is
a
documented
need
for
access
to
reproductive
rights
and
care
for
incarcerated
women.
Operating
under
the
normative
assumption
that
transparency
and
accessibility
of
governmental
information
is
a
democratic
good,
correctional
websites
were
scanned
for
policy
dictating
reproductive
rights.
According
to
the
policies
that
are
and
are
not
available
on
each
state's
corrections
website,
only
a
few
have
explicit
policies
on
accessibility
of
pregnancy
termination
for
incarcerated
women.
Upon
investigation,
the
development
of
these
policies
appears
to
be
partially
due
to
litigation,
instead
of
solely
to
the
political
leanings
of
state
leaders.
Transparency
of
policies
enables
knowledge
of
rights
and
creation
of
a
checks-‐and-‐balances
system.
Though
policies
are
not
perfect,
a
requirement
to
post
policies
in
detention
centers
housing
women
and
on
their
Department
of
Corrections
website
appears
to
be
the
best
way
to
ensure
knowledge
of
the
policy
by
inmates,
guards,
and
the
public,
such
as
is
seen
in
California.
Collections
- MA in Policy Studies [178]