Abortion Explained!
Incarceration
Abortion is a legal right across the United States, but access doesn’t look the same for everyone—particularly for people who are incarcerated while pregnant. Even though we maintain our right to an abortion when we become incarcerated, most jails and prisons offer little or no support to people seeking care from within the facility since abortion is viewed as “elective” and is subjected to stigmatizing rules. In fact, some jails can flat out deny “medically unnecessary” procedures for anyone awaiting trial. State prison policies on abortion vary widely and can include forcing the incarcerated person to pay for the transportation and prison staff attendance at their procedure. Unfortunately, there’s little data surrounding incarcerated people and abortion in general, but we do know pregnant incarcerated people are still being denied access to it.
“The second time I found out I was pregnant, I was in the process of being locked up. It was during intake that I took a pregnancy test. I found out as the nurse yelled, “Tell her it’s positive,” from another room. That was it. I had no choice but to keep moving through the intake process with this brand new information. I was already having trouble processing the fact that I was in jail...I was locked in the pregnancy pod for about two weeks before I was able to visit a healthcare provider. While I waited out those two weeks, I had no idea how far along I was. I didn’t have access to prenatal vitamins, medication for my mental illness, or any sort of medical care. There was nothing.”
— Kay Winston, We Testify storyteller
Overall, incarcerated pregnant people experience horrendous treatment from correctional facilities such as sleeping on cement blocks or floors, inadequate access to food, or not being able to use the bathrooms. Some pregnant people experiencing incarceration may not have access to healthcare for several weeks, even when the jail informs them of a positive pregnancy test. Jails and prisons can even deny release for an abortion altogether. One in 25 people admitted into jails or prisons is experiencing pregnancy. Black women are almost two times as likely to become imprisoned compared to white women, and Latinxs experience incarceration at 1.3 times higher than white women. When thinking about the ways communities are further marginalized by state and federal abortion restrictions, we must include the experiences held and barriers faced by those of us experiencing incarceration while living at the intersection of multiple identities. But it’s not just abortion restrictions that increase the difficulty incarcerated people face, it’s also the way jails and prisons are antithetical to reproductive justice altogether.
In addition to the typical state and federal restrictions a person seeking abortion outside of a jail or prison would have to navigate, additional barriers are imposed by correctional facilities that make abortion access virtually impossible. Some facilities require upfront costs for things like transportation and security escorts while at the abortion clinic, while others may require a hearing with a judge before granting a person permission to leave the jail. These are things that can increase the time an incarcerated pregnant person spends waiting to have an abortion and delay their procedure until later in pregnancy. For incarcerated pregnant people in a state with government-mandated delays, also known as ‘waiting periods,’ the incarcerated person must find the funds to afford transportation to the clinic and security at least twice. Worse, because of our classist, racist, and discriminatory bail bond system, these unexpected costs to obtain a procedure that already costs an average of $500 can push abortion care completely out of reach. While some facilities may work with local and national organizations to advocate for incarcerated people seeking abortions by securing financial assistance from abortion funds, when it comes to affording an abortion while incarcerated, it often depends on assistance from outside resources like family or friends which is navigated without support from the jail.
Incarcerated people having abortions—and those who continue the pregnancy—are often treated inhumanely during their procedure as the jail or prison policy may require them to be restrained through the use of shackles or handcuffs the entire time, including while waiting in the waiting room, while filling out paperwork, and sometimes during the actual abortion procedure. There’s also a privacy risk when it comes to returning to the correctional facility, since experiencing bleeding and cramping around other incarcerated people is possible. Because of this, medication abortions typically aren’t recommended since the level of post-procedure spotting, bleeding, and cramping can be higher than with a surgical abortion, and access to menstrual products and pain relief can be limited or non-existent. Thirty-eight states don’t require the provision of menstrual products to incarcerated people, and there’s a significant need for menstrual equity when it comes to jails and prisons. Having access to the pads needed during and after a medical abortion may be impossible. Even though federally incarcerated people are no longer subjected to cost-related menstrual products, prisons can still limit the number of supplies allotted, every month, leaving many without access.
Over the years, organizations and state officials have worked together to advocate for policies that would prioritize the healthcare of incarcerated people as a human right. Simply having the right to an abortion isn’t enough when it comes to the harmful and dangerous rules (or lack thereof) pregnant people experiencing incarceration are met with when seeking abortion care. Supporters of prison reform argue the current standards of care towards pregnant people aren’t acceptable, since then we’ve seen legislation enacted on local and federal levels that protect pregnant incarcerated people from unnecessary shackling and secure access to menstrual products. But healthcare among correctional facilities is still far from where it should be, and it’s up to us to hold our elected officials accountable by calling our local governments, testifying in favor of good bills and against bad ones, and organizing our community to push for the necessary systemic change we deserve.