Sponsors (23)
The bill substantially strengthens medical protections, limits detention, and increases transparency for pregnant, lactating, and postpartum detainees—improving health and rights—but does so at appreciable fiscal and administrative cost and with operational, privacy, and oversight trade-offs that may complicate enforcement and implementation.
Pregnant, lactating, and postpartum detained noncitizens will be presumptively released and receive early pregnancy screening plus safe-release procedures, reducing time in custody and improving continuity of prenatal/postpartum care after release.
Detained pregnant people will have guaranteed access to comprehensive pregnancy and reproductive health care (prenatal, labor & delivery, postpartum, lactation support, contraception continuation, and abortion services), improving medical outcomes while in custody.
Use of harmful restraints will be restricted and medical staff will have authority to remove restraints and limit nonmedical presence during exams/delivery, increasing safety, autonomy, and privacy during pregnancy and childbirth in detention.
DHS, detention facilities, and taxpayers will face increased costs for expanded medical care, recordkeeping, reporting, multilingual notices, and recurring trainings.
Restrictions on restraints, limits on detention, and tighter procedural rules may complicate security operations and removal logistics for DHS and facility staff, creating operational burdens and potential safety trade-offs in high‑risk encounters.
Narrow exceptions plus a short allowed detention window for final-order removals (up to five days) could force hurried removals or increased reliance on community alternatives, potentially straining local service providers and risking gaps in medical oversight.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 10, 2025 by Patty Murray · Last progress March 10, 2025
Stops routine detention and shackling of pregnant, lactating, and postpartum noncitizens in Department of Homeland Security custody by creating a presumption against detention, requiring pregnancy screening, and allowing detention only in narrow, documented, individualized circumstances. It bans many forms of restraints during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery, mandates access to comprehensive pregnancy-related health care (including labor and delivery, postpartum care, contraception, and abortion services), requires informed consent for medical care, and sets standards for transfer to maternity hospitals. Requires DHS to train staff, give detained people clear notices of their rights, and imposes quarterly reporting by facility administrators plus annual audits and rulemaking by the Secretary to set minimum medical care standards and publish aggregated, non-identifying data on detention and pregnancy outcomes.