A bill that aims to better track pregnant inmates in Utah is among the few pieces of legislation attracting bipartisan support during the state’s jam-packed legislative session.
The measure, HB326, is sponsored by Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, and would require the state Department of Corrections and county jails to offer pregnancy tests to inmates and collect parental information. Pierucci said she hopes it can create a path for a diversion program that would keep some parents with their children and out of the state’s prisons and jails.
Pierucci has made protections for mothers and pregnant inmates a central issue during her legislative tenure, sponsoring a previous bill that banned the shackling of pregnant people and established the Correctional Postnatal and Early Childhood Advisory Board. Her new bill, she said, is based on recommendations from the advisory board, which includes, among other members, representatives from the Department of Corrections, Board of Pardons and Parole, and pediatric health care providers. The legislation would also add positions on the board for a prosecutor and an employee from the state’s Division of Child and Family Services.
HB326′s provision requiring inmates be given pregnancy tests is particularly important, Pierucci said. “This is for a lot of different reasons, but the scanners — particularly that are in some of our lockdown facilities — are harmful to the development of a growing baby, and so we want to be aware of that,” she said during a House Health and Human Services committee meeting, where she presented the bill Wednesday.
In an interview, she added that some of the scanners used in correctional facilities have more radiation than airport scanners, and clarified that while the law would require inmates be offered a pregnancy test, it would not require that they take the test.
“Most people, I think they are at first shocked to find out that there are women who are pregnant who are doing time, but it is a reality,” Pierucci told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I think that as a pro-life state, a family state, it’s important we understand and not to give these people an extra pass just for having kids, but it impacts us.”
An earlier version of the bill included a provision that would have required sentencing courts to consider the impact that incarcerating parents could pose to their children. Pierucci said she pulled back this provision after hearing concerns from prosecutors, but that she still hopes the bill can help chart a path for future diversion programs that would allow inmates with kids to stay in transitional housing or other non-lockdown facilities to keep them connected to their children.
This is why data-gathering aspects of the bill are important, Pierucci said.
“We don’t even know how many women this applies to,” she said in an interview. “We need to get the age. How many of them have children? How many of them are actually pregnant? We don’t even have that data, so it’s hard to forecast expenditures, fiscal notes, impact, if you don’t even know the sizes for the research and programming.”
Department of Corrections spokesperson Glen Mills told The Tribune that the department supports the bill and that the Correctional Postnatal and Early Childhood Advisory Board has already been considering possible options for diversion programs.
“This is a really important thing to get ahead of, because we see a huge impact when it comes to generational cycles, and they’re vicious and they’re hard to break,” he said. “We see it over and over in our system: If your parents are incarcerated, you’re very likely to fall into that same thing.”
A representative for the the Utah Prisoner Advocate Network said the group is supportive of the bill and hopes the data collection provisions can help lawmakers make informed policy decisions down the line.
“For pregnant inmates, the bill’s provisions could lead to enhanced medical care and support during a critical period,” Shane Severson, a spokesperson for the group, said in an email. However, he added, “it’s crucial that the implementation of these measures is monitored to ensure they translate into tangible improvements in inmate welfare.”
The House Health and Human Services committee’s two Democratic members, Reps. Sandra Hollins and Jennifer Dailey-Provost, both of Salt Lake City, joined with the committee’s Republican majority in favor of sending Pierucci’s bill to a full House vote. It was a rare moment of bipartisan in a session that has been marked by controversial legislation on election security, public unions, immigration rights, and housing for transgender people, among other issues.
“I’m all about supporting those who are incarcerated and making sure that they have the best programming for rehabilitation, and really being able to have a relationship and build that bond with their children I think is very important,” Hollins said in an interview. “I support anything that brings unification, as long as it’s done safe, the kids are safe. Anything that can bring unification and give a second chance to these individuals to reunite with family.”
Hollins, who has a background as a social worker, said she saw firsthand how important it can be for incarcerated people and those in recovery to stay connected to their children.
“One of the biggest things with people who were in recovery, the one thing all people with kids wanted to do, was to reunite with their kids,” she said. “They felt that that was a part of their recovery. They felt that they had something to look forward to when they were able to reunite with their kids and get that relationship now, so it is a part of the recovery process.”
Hollins said she wants to see specific proposals for diversion programs, that she loves the idea in theory, and she is glad to see her colleagues who are anti-abortion proposing bills that aim to protect mothers and children. “We need to make sure that individuals and kids are taken care of even after they’re out of the womb,” she said.
