Proposed bill to allow Utah inmates access to birth control
January 28, 2021 GMT
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Two Democratic lawmakers in Utah have proposed a bill that would allow incarcerated women to continue receiving contraceptives, including birth control, while imprisoned in state jails.
Bill sponsors Rep. Jen Dailey-Provost and Sen. Luz Escamilla said the legislation would require jails to provide inmates with the option to continue their medically prescribed methods of contraception if approved, KUTV-TV reported. It also states generic forms of the medications may be provided.
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Dailey-Provost said in a post on Twitter that hormonal contraceptives are “healthcare” and “essential.”
Deseret News
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Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY A Utah legislator’s proposal to give contraceptives to jail inmates sparked a passionate debate Tuesday about whether birth control qualifies as essential health care or an elective medication.
HB102 would require jailers to provide inmates with the contraceptives they were already taking before their incarceration.
For women in the criminal justice system, 84% of their pregnancies are unintended compared to 50% of pregnancies overall, bill sponsor Rep. Jen Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee.
While inmates usually don’t get pregnant while they’re in jail, the discontinuation of their birth control regimen creates risk if they have sex soon before or after as the average jail stay is 27 days about the length of a woman’s menstrual cycle. They also face worse outcomes for themselves and their children due to their situation. They sho
HB102 would require jailers to provide inmates with the contraceptives they were already taking before their incarceration.
For women in the criminal justice system, 84% of their pregnancies are unintended compared to 50% of pregnancies overall, bill sponsor Rep. Jen Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, told members of the House Health and Human Services Committee.
While inmates usually don t get pregnant while they re in jail, the discontinuation of their birth control regimen creates risk if they have sex soon before or after as the average jail stay is 27 days about the length of a woman s menstrual cycle. They also face worse outcomes for themselves and their children due to their situation. They should be able to start their families when they re in a better place In their lives, Dailey-Provost said.