By Renatta Signorini
TribLive
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — All female inmates committed to the Westmoreland County Prison will be subjected to a pregnancy test, whether they claim to be with child or not.
Warden John Walton said the new policy is being instituted by the jail’s health care provider. “That’s for (the inmate’s) well-being,” Walton said during Monday’s prison board meeting.
The need for such a policy arose when a female inmate gave corrections officers false information several weeks ago, he said.
“This female came in and told us that she was not pregnant and she wasn’t a drug user,” Walton said. He declined to identify the inmate, who was found to be pregnant and addicted to drugs.
Since Jan. 1, 27 female inmates admitted to the jail were pregnant, Walton said after the meeting. That number constitutes 4 percent of the 661 female commitments through the first nine months of 2013.
When a pregnant woman who is addicted to drugs is lodged in the Westmoreland County Prison, she is immediately taken to Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment.
Full story: All female inmates committed to Westmoreland jail to get pregnancy test