Filmed April 30, 2021

Watch a conference from the Center for Justice and Law in partnership with the Ostara Initiative, the Minnesota Prison Doula Project, and the Alabama Birth Project presents our Spring conference Reproductive In(Justice): Birth Behind Bars featuring local and national advocates, community members, and leaders. Join us for an in-depth conversation centering the experiences of incarcerated people navigating pregnancy and birthing in prison. This four and a half hour event will include a series of panels, conversations, and a Keynote with cross-sector justice-impacted leaders, activists, scholars, and practitioners. Our final panel will highlight the advocacy efforts underway across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Alabama to elevate awareness of legal and policy initiatives for reproductive justice.

Part of the CJL’s 2020-22 theme of Health, Justice, and the Law

0:00 Introduction by Susi Keefe, director of the CJL and Public Health and Sociology Professor at Hamline
3:39 Introduction by Erica Gerrity, Co-founder of the Minnesota Prison Doula Project and Executive Director of the Ostara Initiative
4:41 Susi Keefe Explains the Structure of the Panel
6:54 First Speaker Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, author of Jail Care: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars
34:18 Panel 1 - Pregnancy and Postpartum in the Carceral System. Moderated by Tommy Franklin (Filmmaker, Writer, Producer of Weapon of Choice Podcast and Founder and President of Special Menu Productions)
Panelists are Mariah Wilberg (Statewide HIV Strategy & Services Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services), Pamela Winn (Founder, RestoreHER US.America), Natalie Pollard, Cameron Dutton (Justice-Impacted Mother & Manager of a National Chain Restaurant, Central Alabama), and Julie Colby (Acupuncturist, Mother Baby Center at United Hospital)
1:37:49 Panel 2 - Collectively Reimagining Reproductive Justice.
Moderated by Dr. Rebecca Shlafer (Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota AND Research Director, Minnesota Prison Doula Project)
Panelists are Lori Timlin (Parenting Program Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Corrections), Representative Jamie Becker-Finn ( Minnesota State Representative, District 42B), Brittany L. Wright (President and Founder, Gray Matter), and Huda Ahmed (Philanthropic Collaboration Director, Greater Twin Cities United Way)
2:30:29 Keynote - Autumn Mason, Incarceration Survivor, Justice Reform Advocate, and Doula Peer Support
3:07:08 Panel 3 - Prison Birth Work: Truth and Reconciliation
Moderated by Erica Gerrity (Co-Founder, Minnesota Prison Doula Project and Executive Director of Ostara Initiative)
Panelists include Chauntel Norris (Co-Founder & Doula, Baobab Birth Collective), Maggie Quinn (Program Coordinator, Chicago Volunteer Doulas), Rae Baker (Director, Minnesota Prison Doula Project)
4:11:02 Keynote - Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan
4:24:24 Susi Keefe Concludes

• Reproductive (In)Justice: Birth Behind Bars ( Download)
• Understanding Reproductive Injustice: Panel 2 ( Download)
• Many incarcerated women shackled in childbirth ( Download)
• Spotlight Conversation with Bria Holloway | Giving Birth While Incarcerated, Advocating for Change ( Download)
• Moms Behind Bars: How Cash Bail Is Keeping Women In Jail | AJ+ ( Download)
• End the illegal shackling of pregnant women in NYS prisons: The Full Story ( Download)
• Understanding Reproductive Injustice: Panel 3 ( Download)
• End the illegal shackling of pregnant women in NYS prisons: Maria's Story ( Download)
• Reproductive Justice Hearing: Criminal Punishment & Civil Regulation of Pregnant Women ( Download)
• Kamala Harris' Prosecutors Sent This Innocent Man to Prison ( Download)
• Reproductive Justice and Incarceration with Rachel Roth, Carolyn Sufrin and Red de Acción Carcelaria ( Download)
• End the illegal shackling of pregnant women in NYS prisons: Cori's Story ( Download)
• End the illegal shackling of pregnant women in NYS prisons: Ursulina's Story ( Download)
• The Unknown History of Reproductive Rights: From Skinner to Roe ( Download)
• Inside Story: COVID-19 and Vaccine Mistrust in U.S. Prisons and Jails ( Download)