Pregnant Women in Custody Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Pregnant Women in Custody Act
This bill establishes requirements to address the health needs of incarcerated women related to pregnancy and childbirth. The bill requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to collect data on the health needs of incarcerated pregnant women at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. With respect to incarcerated women at the federal level, the bill
requires the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to provide appropriate services and programs to address the health and safety needs related to pregnancy and childbirth, as well as appropriate health care to a woman with a high-risk pregnancy;
limits the use of restrictive housing for prisoners who are pregnant or in postpartum recovery; and
requires the BOP to report annually on the number of administrative claims and appeals filed by pregnant inmates.
With respect to incarcerated women at the state and local levels, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to study the services and protections for pregnant incarcerated women in state and local correctional settings.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on December 1, 2022. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 5, 2022: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Karen Bass (D-CA) introduced it on March 1, 2022, and 36 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 33 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 1, 2022, 1654 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1375 days ago, on December 5, 2022.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers