The 4^th Annual Legislate THIS! Statewide Day of Action was amazing.  Shana Griffin, one of the most brilliant black feminist scholar-activists in the South delivered a rousing and insightful critique of reproductive politics entitled The Political Economy of Reproductive Violence: Understanding How Our Bodies Are Represented, Valued, and Policed Through Legislative Actions.  Her energy and brilliance was motivational! More than 30 Georgians showed up and showed out the capitol advocating for the introduction of the Giving Birth with Dignity and in Safety Act which would formally end the practice of shackling incarcerated pregnant women during labor, deliver and recovery. 

This day of action was preceded by the launch of the first ever-state level resource about shackling pregnant incarcerated women, Giving Birth Behind Bars: Achieving Reproductive Justice for Incarcerated Women(Download at www.sparkrj.org). This guide provides resources to elected officials, medical professionals, and activists on how to both change the policy of shackling on the state level and the practice of shackling happen in medical facilities. SPARK members, Ashley McCray and Pandora Hardtman, have been critical to this work by providing their lived experiences on the impact of shackling

The session isn't over and there is still more work to do.  Contact Tonya at tonya@sparkrj.org to learn more about our anti-shackling campaign and/or our SPEAK JUSTICE TAKE ACTION program.