AMA: House of Delegates Backs Ban on Shackling Inmates in Labor

AMA: House of Delegates Backs Ban on Shackling Inmates in Labor
By Emily Walker | ABC News

"Shackling women in labor runs counter to our values," said delegate Dr. Erin Tracy, an Ob/Gyn from Stoneham, Mass. "It's dehumanizing," she commented during a Sunday hearing of the AMA's legislative committee. Female inmates "need to be provided adequate compassionate care."

The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a resolution to prohibit the shackling of women during labor -- a practice outlawed in seven states but still used in some prisons and hospitals for inmates who are giving birth.

The resolution was introduced by a group of ObGyns along with several state medical societies and adopted by the AMA's full House of Delegates on Tuesday by a voice vote.

California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Vermont, and Colorado all have laws discouraging the practice of shackling female inmates during labor. The AMA's resolution calls on the doctors' group to write draft legislation that other states could use as a model to pass their own antishackling laws. Read more.