By Meredith Hoffman
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — The state with the country’s largest incarcerated population is moving to monitor care for its pregnant inmates.
The Texas House voted unanimously Thursday to require all state-operated or contracted jails to disclose their treatment of pregnant detainees over the course of one year, beginning in September.
The bill now requires one final, largely symbolic vote to head to the state Senate.
It would mandate jails to share information on the availability of health care services, proper nutrition, and other procedures protecting pregnant inmates.
The measure would also require the lockdown facilities to document when they restrain pregnant individuals or place them in isolation, and to report the number of miscarriages that occur.
The Legislature already required county sheriffs in 2016 to provide a similar, less comprehensive report.