Senator Murray Reintroduces Bill to Stop Trump Administration from Detaining and Shackling Pregnant Women

Statement

Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and 24 cosponsors, reintroduced the Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act. The legislation would protect the health and safety of pregnant women and youth by reinstituting the presumption of release of pregnant women and youth in immigration detention, further prohibiting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from shackling pregnant women in its custody, and setting new standards of care and transparency for the treatment of pregnant women and youth.

The bill was first introduced last summer in light of reports of mistreatment of pregnant women in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and was reintroduced on the heels of a recent Washington Post report about a women in ICE custody whose pregnancy ended in a stillbirth after she went into labor prematurely.

"It's deeply disappointing that the Trump Administration hasn't reversed course on its heartless and dangerous policy of detaining pregnant women, which puts the health of mothers and infants at risk," said Senator Murray. "I'm not going to stop fighting to make the Trump Administration do the right thing--end this immoral policy and make sure pregnant women get the medical care they need."

The legislation is cosponsored by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Senator Tom Udall (D-NM), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The Stop Shackling and Detaining Pregnant Women Act has been endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Women's Refugee Commission, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, NARAL Pro-Choice America, The Center for Reproductive Rights, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, Human Rights Watch, Church World Service, MomsRising, Amnesty International, Anti-Defamation League, March of Dimes, National Council of Jewish Women, Inc, and the National Women's Law Center.

As part of Senator Murray's ongoing efforts on this issue, she also successfully fought to include language in the FY 2019 appropriations bill putting new restrictions on the ability of DHS to restrain pregnant women in its custody. (see Div. A, Title V SEC. 533)

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