The U.S. carceral system is in the business of making reproductive choices for its inmates. In this episode, I examine some of the ways that incarceration controls women's reproduction. Some are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies. Others leave prison unable to get pregnant ever again, and they don't always know it.

SOURCES:

1. https://arrwip.org/projects/pregnancy-in-prison-statistics-pips-project/

2. Contraceptive needs among newly incarcerated women in a county jail in the United States (2018) Cannon, R., Madrigal, J. M., Feldman, E., et al.

3. Contraception policies in U.S. jails, prisons, and juvenile detention systems: A national survey (2021) Cheedalla, A. & Sufrin, C. B. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34388036/

4. The realities of pregnancy and mothering while incarcerated (2020) Friedman, S. H., Kaempf, A., & Kauffman, S. https://jaapl.org/content/early/2020/05/13/JAAPL.003924-20

5. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/30/california-prisons-forced-sterilizations-belly-beast

6. Contraceptive use and barriers to access among newly incarcerated women (2012) LaRochella, F., Castro, C., Goldenson, J., et al.

7. https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/955-sterilization-of-women-in-prison

8. https://revealnews.org/article/female-inmates-sterilized-in-california-prisons-without-approval/

9. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/19/california-forced-sterilization-prison-survivors-reparations

10. https://lawblogs.uc.edu/ihrlr/2021/05/28/not-just-ice-forced-sterilization-in-the-united-states/

11. Female permanent contraception policies and occurrence at a sample of U.S. prisons and jails (2021) Pan, Y. L., Beal, L., Espino, K., et al.

12. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2021/12/08/reproductive_choice/

13. “If they hand you a paper, you sign it”: A call to end the sterilization of women in prison (2015) Roth, R. & Ainsworth, S. L.

14. What women want: A qualitative study of contraception in jail (2015) Schonberg, D., Bennett, A. H., Sufrin, C., et al.

15. When the punishment is pregnancy: Carceral restriction of abortion in the United States (2019) Sufrin, C.

16. Abortion access for incarcerated people: Incidence of abortion and policies and U.S. prisons and jails (2021) Sufrin, C., Jones, R. K., Beal, L., et al.