Tallahassee, Fla.— Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed SB 630, known as the Pregnant Women in Custody Act. This bill would protect maternal health by giving detained women access to a pregnancy test upon her request within a certain timeframe. The bill would also allow judges to give pregnant women the opportunity to defer sentencing until after they’ve given birth, with conditions of release imposed until that time.
The bill, also known as “Ava’s Law,” was named after the newborn baby girl who died after her mother was forced to give birth in Alachua County Jail in August 2021. Her mother, Erica Thompson, told jail staff that she was having contractions and said her pleas for help were ignored. Thompson gave birth to her baby in her cell after 12 hours. Baby Ava went into cardiac arrest and was taken to UF Health Shands Hospital where she later died.
The House version of the bill is HB 363.
The ACLU of Florida responded to today’s committee hearing with the following statement:
“We are pleased Florida lawmakers passed Ava’s law in the Senate Judiciary Committee today. This bill is critical to furthering rights and protections offered to people who are pregnant while incarcerated. These bills are meant to allow additional time for incarcerated pregnant people to receive postpartum care. If unable to access the appropriate nutrition and care before, during and after birth, some people’s experience with pregnancy can be fatal to them, their baby, or both.
“Baby Ava’s death was avoidable. No person should worry about going into labor surrounded by anything less than a competent team of medical professionals. Florida lawmakers have a responsibility to ensure adequate health care to all incarcerated people. This is an important step forward in ensuring we are providing prenatal and postpartum healthcare to all pregnant incarcerated Floridians.”