COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban jails and prisons from using leg, waist and ankle restraints on pregnant women while they give birth.
The House passed the bill last year, and a Senate subcommittee passed it on to the Corrections and Penology Committee last week.
South Carolina is one of only six states that don’t ban shackling pregnant inmates. The law would also require pregnant inmates to only be handcuffed in front so they can try to brace themselves if they fall.
The ban would apply to state prisons and local jails.
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