Sponsor
John J. McGuire
Representative · R-VA
Representative · R-VA
The bill expands access to evidence-based opioid treatment for pregnant people in federal custody—improving maternal, neonatal, and post-release outcomes and standardizing care—while raising costs, creating operational burdens for the BOP, and posing risks to patient autonomy in contested competency cases.
Pregnant people in Bureau of Prisons custody with opioid use disorder will receive evidence-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in custody and linked at release, which reduces overdose risk, withdrawal complications, and improves maternal and neonatal health and post-release overdose/relapse outcomes.
The bill clarifies and standardizes the BOP's responsibility to provide MAT to pregnant incarcerated people, improving continuity of care across facilities and strengthening legal and medical accountability.
Pregnant people may have reduced autonomy if their competency is disputed, creating risk of involuntary treatment, contested medical decisions, and litigation.
Expanding MAT provision in BOP will increase federal correctional health-care costs, creating budgetary pressure that could affect taxpayers or require reallocations within correctional or federal health budgets.
Operational challenges—staff training, medication supply chain, and monitoring—will burden BOP facilities and staff during implementation and could temporarily strain or disrupt other prison health services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Bureau of Prisons to provide medication-assisted treatment to pregnant people in federal custody with opioid addiction, unless a mentally competent person refuses.
Requires the Federal Bureau of Prisons to provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to every pregnant person in federal custody who is addicted to opioids, while allowing a mentally competent pregnant person to refuse MAT. The rule applies only to people in Bureau of Prisons custody and does not create new funding in the text provided.
Official title: To direct the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to provide medication assisted treatment for opioid addiction to certain women.
Introduced July 16, 2026 by John J. McGuire · Last progress July 16, 2026