Improving Care for Incarcerated People in St. Louis
NIRH worked closely with Pro-Choice Missouri (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri) to pass Board Bill 212, to improve and protect the reproductive rights and health care access of incarcerated people by ensuring access to quality prenatal and postpartum health care, nutritious food, and tampons or pads.
A significant achievement of this bill is to limit the restraint of pregnant throughout their pregnancies and post-partum period while in custody.
In 2018, the Missouri General Assembly passed protections for pregnant women who are incarcerated at Dept. of Corrections facilities, but local governments were not included. Board Bill 212 aims to protect people who are incarcerated in St. Louis.
“The National Institute for Reproductive Health is thrilled to see joint efforts by activists and elected leaders to improve reproductive health care and recognize the critical importance of serving our most vulnerable populations. At a time where the future of reproductive rights are uncertain at the federal level and in many state legislatures, it’s especially critical for leadership at the local level to step up to provide the access to health care that everyone needs.”
Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health