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14 Harv. L. & Pol'y Rev. 417 (2019-2020)
Pregnancy, Systematic Disregard and Degradation, and Carceral Institutions

handle is hein.journals/harlpolrv14 and id is 429 raw text is: Pregnancy, Systematic Disregard and Degradation, and Carceral Institutions Lauren Kuhlik* and Carolyn Sufrin** The majority ofpeople incarcerated in US. women's jails and prisons are younger than 45; most of them are parents, and some will be pregnant behind bars. The ways that institutions of incarceration manage their reproductive bodies rely on overlapping legal, cultural, social, historical, and racialized foundations that allow reproductive oppressions to flourish behind bars. Yet, as we argue in this article, these dynamics of incarcerated reproduction manifest far beyond prison and jail walls, through criminalizing and restric- tive discourses that devalue the reproductive wellbeing of marginalized people. We analyze the legal, clinical, and socio-political dimensions of carceral control of reproduction and reproductive health care in US. prisons and jails, including abortion access, prenatal and postpartum care, childbirth, and parenting. We describe violations of constitutional and clinical standards of reproductive care behind bars, showing how these reproductive coer- cions are grounded in historical legacies of slavery and the ongoing reproductive control of black and other marginalized bodies. This article makes the case that understanding repro- duction behind bars and its legacies of racialized reproductive oppressions reveals the carceral dynamics of reproduction that are foundational to US. society. I. FOUNDATIONS OF CARCERALITY, CONTROL, AND REPRODUCTION IN THE U.S................................ 418 II. INCARCERATED WOMEN ARE A GROWING YET OVERLOOKED GROUP IN THE U.S . ........................ 421 III. HISTORICAL REGULATION OF BLACK WOMEN'S REPRODUCTION MANIFESTS IN CARCERAL SUBJUGATION .... 423 IV. CRIMINALIZING BODIES AND THE RIGHT TO HEALTH CARE ....................................................... 426 V. ABORTION DENIAL AS A METHOD OF CARCERAL C ONTROL ................................................. . 429 A. Law permits forced pregnancy of incarcerated people ......... 429 B. Systemic control by institutions of incarceration includes barriers to abortion ...................................... 430 C. Carceral forced pregnancy as site ofpunishment and control... 436 VI. CARCERAL STATE DEVALUES AND PUNISHES PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH ......................................... .. 439 * Lauren Kuhlik is an Equal Justice Works fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project. Her practice focuses on improving conditions of confinement for incarcerated pregnant people through litigation, legislative advocacy, and public education. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. and a Master's in Public Health from Harvard University. ** Carolyn Sufrin is an obstetrician-gynecologist and medical anthropologist at Johns Hop- kins University; she is assistant professor in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the School of Medicine and in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloom- berg School of Public Health. Her work explores the intersections between reproductive polit- ics and mass incarceration, aiming to improve reproductive health care behind bars and to promote alternatives to incarceration. She has a PhD in medical anthropology from University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley and an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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