The Struggle for Reproductive Justice in Incarceration

Prefer to LISTEN? Click here for audio!

It started with cramps. Sharp pains low in her abdomen came in waves. Tasha had told the nurse two days earlier that something didn’t feel right. The pain was worsening. However, the guard shrugged it off. “You’re probably just constipated,” he muttered, not even looking up from his clipboard.

Tasha's Story

Tasha was six months pregnant and incarcerated in a county jail for a probation violation linked to an old shoplifting charge. She was 27, Black, and already a mother of two. This was her third pregnancy but the first one behind bars.

When the bleeding started, she banged on the metal door of her cell for nearly an hour before anyone responded. After what felt like an eternity, they finally took her to the infirmary, but not before handcuffing her. She was in excruciating pain and pleaded with them not to restrain her.

By the time she was transferred to the hospital, she remained cuffed at the wrists and ankles. Here, she was in active labor. She gave birth alone, under harsh fluorescent lights, surrounded by uniformed officers instead of her family. Tragically, her baby lived just long enough for her to hold him once.

No one asked if she wanted to name him. No one suggested grief counseling. Once again, no one followed up. Just two days later, she was back in jail, and this pain was not mentioned again.

The Reality of Reproductive Injustice

When a woman is incarcerated, she does not lose her humanity. She does not relinquish her right to healthcare. Most importantly, she does not forfeit the right to make decisions about her own body. Across prisons and jails in the U.S., reproductive injustice is a daily reality for thousands of women. Many of these women have already faced poverty, violence, and systemic neglect long before they were even locked up.

Reproductive justice, as defined by Black women activists and scholars, revolves around more than just the right to abortion. It encompasses the right to have children, not have children, and to parent in safe and sustainable communities. Inside carceral settings, these essential rights are systematically denied.

Denied Autonomy, Delayed Care

Incarcerated women face severe hurdles when accessing reproductive healthcare. Routine gynecological services, such as Pap smears, STI testing, and contraception, are offered inconsistently—if at all. In some facilities, women wait weeks or even months for urgent exams or treatments. This negligence puts potentially life-threatening conditions at risk of being undiagnosed.

When it comes to contraception, the situation is troubling. Some women are denied access altogether, while others face pressure to receive long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) or even sterilization without fully understanding their options. Such practices reflect disturbing echoes of past abuses, where poor women and women of color were specifically targeted for state-sanctioned reproductive control.

Pregnancy in Shackles

The reproductive injustice often reaches a harrowing peak during pregnancy. Pregnant incarcerated women are routinely shackled during labor and delivery, despite widespread condemnation of this inhumane practice. Many states have legislation banning it, yet enforcement can be spotty. The use of restraints not only causes physical harm but also obstructs essential medical care. It deeply traumatizes both the pregnant person and their newborn.

Prenatal care often falls short of necessary standards. Many pregnant women report inconsistent access to vitamins, ultrasounds, nutrition, and emotional support. Some are outright denied access to abortion care, especially in states where carceral policies mimic restrictive state laws. Others must navigate a confusing bureaucratic maze to access reproductive services, all while their bodily clocks tick without mercy.

Forced Separation and Loss

The injustices continue even after birth. Incarcerated mothers are frequently separated from their newborns within days—or even hours—of delivery. The trauma of this forced separation is immense. It exacerbates existing mental health challenges and makes the postpartum period incredibly dangerous.

Very few correctional institutions have supportive policies regarding family unity, parenting support, or breastfeeding. The essential needs of mothers are consistently ignored, along with the requirements of infants.

A System Rooted in Control, Not Care

What this all underscores is not merely a failure of healthcare policy but a deeper, systemic issue. It is a system designed to control rather than care for incarcerated women. It also continues to view poor women—especially Black, brown, and Indigenous women—as unworthy of reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.

To genuinely tackle reproductive injustice in prisons and jails, we must look beyond the barriers of prison walls. This issue is about public health, racial justice, and gender equity. We must dismantle a legacy of medical neglect and reproductive control and strive to build systems affirming every woman’s right—whether free or incarcerated—to make choices about her own body with dignity and without fear.

What Comes Next

In our next post, we’ll explore what happens when a woman is pregnant behind bars, and how lack of prenatal care and systemic neglect can turn pregnancy into a life-threatening ordeal. Because the fight for reproductive justice doesn't halt at clinic doors or courtrooms; it must also reach the most hidden corners of our justice system.