HOUSE BILL No. 6613

 

 

December 21, 2018, Introduced by Reps. Geiss and Chang and referred to the Committee on Law and Justice.

 

     A bill to amend 1953 PA 232, entitled

 

"Corrections code of 1953,"

 

by amending section 67a (MCL 791.267a), as added by 1996 PA 234,

 

and by adding section 65j.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 65j. (1) An employee of the department shall not restrain

 

a prisoner known to be pregnant unless the employee makes an

 

individualized determination, with explicit permission from a

 

ranking prison administrator, that restraints are reasonably

 

necessary for the legitimate safety and security needs of the

 

prisoner, correctional facility employees, other inmates, or the

 

public, and the treating medical care provider does not object to

 

the use of restraints. If restraints are determined to be

 

necessary, the restraints must be the least restrictive available

 

and the most reasonable under the circumstances.


     (2) An employee of a correctional facility shall not restrain

 

a prisoner known to be pregnant while the prisoner is being

 

transported if the restraint is through the use of leg irons, waist

 

chains or other devices that cross or otherwise touch the

 

prisoner's abdomen, handcuffs, or other devices that cross or

 

otherwise touch the prisoner's wrists when affixed behind the

 

prisoner's back.

 

     (3) An employee of the department may not place a prisoner

 

known to be pregnant in segregation or isolating conditions.

 

     (4) An employee of a correctional facility may restrain a

 

prisoner who is in labor or who has given birth within the

 

preceding 3 days only if all of the following conditions apply:

 

     (a) There is a substantial flight risk or another

 

extraordinary medical or security circumstance that dictates

 

restraints be used to ensure the safety and security of the

 

prisoner, correctional facility employees, other inmates, or the

 

public.

 

     (b) The employee has made an individualized determination with

 

explicit permission from a ranking prison administrator that

 

restraints are necessary to prevent escape or injury.

 

     (c) There is no objection from the treating medical care

 

provider.

 

     (d) The restraints used are the least restrictive type and are

 

used in the least restrictive manner.

 

     (5) Upon arriving at a reception center designated under

 

section 67(1), the department must offer pregnancy testing to each

 

incoming female prisoner who is not more than 50 years of age.


     (6) The department must ensure every prisoner who has given

 

birth within the last 12 months and is producing breast milk is

 

provided both of the following opportunities:

 

     (a) To breast-feed the infant child of the prisoner during any

 

visit with the infant.

 

     (b) To express breast milk for the infant child of the

 

prisoner.

 

     (7) A prisoner who expresses her breast milk as authorized

 

under subsection (6)(b) must be given access to necessary supplies,

 

including a breast pump and appropriate, sanitary containers for

 

storage, and must be allowed to have the breast milk stored under

 

refrigeration until it is picked up by a person the prisoner has

 

authorized for that purpose.

 

     (8) The department must allow a prisoner to have access to

 

doula services if the prisoner is known to be pregnant or has given

 

birth not more than 6 weeks before she arrived at a reception

 

center designated under section 67(1). A support person who has

 

completed birth planning with the pregnant prisoner and has been

 

cleared using the law enforcement information network as provided

 

in the C.J.I.S. policy council act, 1974 PA 163, MCL 28.211 to

 

28.215, may be present in the delivery room with the pregnant

 

prisoner, along with the doula.

 

     (9) An employee of the correctional facility who may have

 

contact with pregnant prisoners incarcerated in the facility must

 

receive annual training on the provisions of this section.

 

     (10) A prisoner known to be pregnant must be asked to

 

designate a person to receive updates about her medical condition.


A person designated under this subsection must be notified when

 

that prisoner is transported to a medical appointment or to a

 

hospital, begins labor, or delivers her child. After a person

 

designated under this section is notified that a pregnant person

 

has begun labor, that person and an additional 2 support persons

 

may be present in a hospital visiting room.

 

     (11) As used in this section, "doula services" means

 

childbirth education and support services, including emotional,

 

physical, and informational support provided during pregnancy,

 

labor, birth, and the postpartum period.

 

     Sec. 67a. (1) A prisoner who receives nonemergency medical,

 

dental, or optometric services at his or her request is responsible

 

for a copayment fee to the department for those services, as

 

determined by the department. If the prisoner is a minor, the

 

prisoner's parent or guardian is also responsible for a copayment

 

fee imposed under this section.

 

     (2) A prisoner who intentionally injures himself or herself,

 

and receives emergency medical care for that injury, is responsible

 

for the entire cost of the medical care, rather than the copayment

 

described in subsection (1).

 

     (3) The department shall determine whether those prisoners who

 

injure themselves intentionally shall must be housed in a facility

 

designed to allow on-site medical treatment of those injuries. Not

 

later than 6 months after the effective date of this section,

 

September 30, 1997, the director of the department shall report to

 

the legislature on the feasibility and cost of implementing this

 

subsection.


     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.