Imagine having your legs and hands shackled during childbirth. You are in pain, frightened, trying to bring your baby safely into the world, while the state keeps you in chains. It is dangerous to both mother and baby. It is inhumane. It is cruel. And it is completely unnecessary. Restraints restrict movement and can delay emergency medical care. When a mother or baby is in distress, every moment matters. No woman should have to wait for someone to unlock her shackles before doctors can help her. Corrections officers can maintain security without chaining a woman giving birth. Guards are already stationed in the room or at the door. Of the corrections officers I contacted across Australia, not one could cite a single example of a woman attempting to escape during childbirth. Yet escape risk continues to be offered as justification. Where is the evidence that warrants putting mothers and babies through this? On Thursday, 15 October, @SenatorThorpe bill to end shackling during childbirth goes before the Senate. I will be in Parliament to witness it. Labor and the Coalition have recommended that the bill be rejected. That is profoundly shocking. Arguments about which level of government should act offer no protection to a woman chained to a hospital bed. There is still time to demand better. Sign Senator Thorpe’s open letter. Share this post. Contact your senators and insist they support the bill. Women in jail are entitled to dignity, healthcare and a safe birth. Their babies are entitled to a safe beginning. Neither should depend on political convenience. No exceptions. No excuses. No woman giving birth in chains. Sign and share: lidiathorpe.com/end_shacklin… #EndShackling #HumanRights #WomensRights #BirthJustice photo courtesy of socialistworker.org