Healthcare Behind Bars

The current political and economic climate has resulted in many barriers to healthcare for the general population of women. However, specific marginalized populations may suffer additional hardships under tthe radar. An article entitled "Caring for Invisible Patients: Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare for Incarcerated Women," explains the adverse conditons of attaining adequate healthcare for many incarcerated women. In the article, Kate Hannaher contends that incarcerated women have inadequate access to health services and education, ultimately leading to higher risk pregnancies.

Much like the general population, incarcerated women are subject to the financial planning of institutions. In the criminal justice system, there is little incentive for jails or prisons to provide preventative care because most of the women are incarcerated for a finite period of time. Therefore, acute care absorbs most of the health services rendered to prisoners. This equates to poor healthcare for many incarcerated women.

The need for healthcare becomes more necessary for the 5-6 percent of women who enter correctional facilities while pregnant (Hannaher, 2009). These pregnancies are handles with great variability. Reports indicate that many pregnant women are shackled for security measures during medical visits, while other jurisdictions provide pregnancy counseling and allow hospital deliveries, and time with the newborn for up to one week (Hannaher, 2009).

Women who prefer to abort their pregnancy are usually at the will of the prison protocol. Many institutions forbid their prisoners to have abortions (Hannaher, 2009). This is especially frustrating because many of these pregnancies are high risk due to pre-existing health conditions or substance abuse (Hannaher, 2009). This variation is alarming to many, in which more consistent regulations are necessary to ensure the human rights of all people.

Click here to read a professional blog about the healthcare rights for incarcerated women across the country.

Hannaher, K. "Caring for invisible patients: Challenges and opportunities in healthcare for incarcerated women." (2009). Journal of Public Law and Policy, 29(1). 162-209.