Tonie Willis and Rep. Tina Davis: To cut down on crime, give newborns a fair shot

How does shackling expecting mothers protect public safety in Pennsylvania? The answer is clear: It doesn’t, not by a mile.

More than 130,000 babies will be born in Pennsylvania this year, but not every newborn will be born with a fair shot. In state and county prisons across the commonwealth, hundreds of expecting mothers behind bars will give birth this year while shackled, bringing newborns into the world surrounded by stress, trauma and fear from the start. Others will spend up to 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, cut off from access to basic health resources, essential hygiene, and critical prenatal and postpartum care.

As a Democrat in the state House and the director of a criminal justice nonprofit, we know that criminal justice reform can be a divisive issue at times. But here’s why this is different and an area where common ground makes sense: Protecting mothers and children is a Pennsylvania issue, rooted in who we are as a people and our values of virtue, liberty and independence.

That’s why we’ve introduced legislation backed by both Republicans and Democrats to restore dignity to women behind bars in Pennsylvania, protect the lives of their newborns and help put an end to the costly cycle of incarceration.

For years, we’ve turned on the news to stories of incarcerated mothers like Athena Remlinger giving birth in modern-day cages. Shackled to beds and deprived of basic health care, they are kept in conditions that threaten their lives and the health and safety of their babies. While federal law and states like Virginia, New Jersey and Louisiana have stopped many of these archaic practices, Pennsylvania mothers and infants continue to be left behind. Our legislation would stop these practices once and for all, and extend the same right to basic health conditions to women behind bars that we would expect for our own mothers, sisters and children.

Restoring dignity to mothers and women behind bars is one of the easiest steps we can take to disrupting the costly cycle of incarceration draining critical resources across our state. Over the last 40 years, the number of women incarcerated in our prisons and jails has increased by 775%, taking away from funding for affordable housing, health care, schools, infrastructure improvements and other overdue needs in our communities. Shackling expecting women behind bars, depriving them of basic care, and keeping them separated from their families and support network is further perpetuating the problem, worsening the cycle of crime and incarceration in impacted communities.

Among the commonsense changes in the Dignity For Incarcerated Women Act to stop shackling expecting mothers and prohibit worsening their trauma in solitary confinement, the bill also ensures feminine hygiene products to women behind bars who need them and increases visitation opportunities to help keep families connected. In addition, it provides essential training for correctional officers to continue protecting public safety while also protecting the right to dignity and life for every woman and child in their care.

There are many issues that divide us, but in Pennsylvania, protecting women and children is not one of them. Our commonwealth has always been a state that stands up for family values and for those among us who are least protected. With support from Republican leaders like York District Attorney David Sunday and state Rep. Mike Jones, alongside our fellow Democratic leaders, restoring dignity to women and giving newborns a fair shot are issues where we can and must come together. We encourage our colleagues to join us in support to pass this legislation into law.

Tonie Willis, a formerly incarcerated woman, is founder of Ardella’s House in Philadelphia, which assists women impacted by mass incarceration. Rep. Tina Davis represents Bucks County.