Sponsors (60)
Official title: To safeguard the humane treatment of pregnant and postpartum women by ensuring the presumption of release and prohibiting shackling, restraining, and other inhumane treatment, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Sylvia Garcia · Last progress July 23, 2025
The bill prioritizes health, dignity, and oversight for pregnant, lactating, and postpartum noncitizens—reducing detention and mandating medical care and transparency—while imposing new operational, compliance, privacy, and cost burdens on DHS, detention facilities, and local systems.
Pregnant, lactating, and postpartum noncitizens will generally be released from custody rather than detained, reducing health risks from detention and limiting prolonged custody for this group.
Detained pregnant and postpartum people will have enforceable access to comprehensive pregnancy‑related medical care in custody (prenatal, postpartum, lactation care, and abortion services) and clinicians may order removal of restraints to protect patient safety.
Intake pregnancy testing, weekly individualized custody reviews with rapid release timelines, and safe‑release requirements (medical records transfer, medications, provider notification) improve timely medical care, oversight, and continuity of care after release.
Implementing expanded medical services, reporting, training, and new procedural requirements will raise administrative and operational costs for DHS and detention facilities, likely increasing taxpayer expense and requiring more staffing.
Broader statutory definitions of 'detained noncitizen' and 'facility' extend federal requirements into state, local, and private custody settings, potentially increasing federal oversight and compliance burdens on local governments and private contractors.
New procedural mandates (testing, weekly reviews, 24-hour release windows) and regulations could complicate enforcement and removal operations, slow processing, and increase DHS administrative burdens.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits routine detention and most restraints of pregnant, lactating, and postpartum noncitizens; requires pregnancy testing, medical care access, staff training, reporting, and narrow exceptions.
Creates strong limits on detaining and restraining pregnant, lactating, and postpartum noncitizens in Department of Homeland Security custody. Requires pregnancy testing at intake, a near‑categorical presumption against detention of pregnant people, narrow exceptions for truly extraordinary risks, and prompt release procedures with medical continuity and notifications. Mandates a ban on most restraints for pregnant/delivering/postpartum people (with very limited, documented exceptions), requires access to comprehensive pregnancy‑related health care (including abortion services), staff training, written notices of rights, facility arrangements with nearby maternity care, data collection and public reporting, and DHS regulations to implement the law.