After 32-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Reeves was jailed in Montgomery County Jail on August 3, 2020, she suffered a drug-related emergency. Administration of NARCAN® didn’t help, and emergency medical services transported Ms. Reeves to a nearby hospital. On August 5, 2020, she died at the hospital.

Medical care is the issue that garners the most complaints every year according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).

A watchdog group in Texas proposed a bill to improve medical care for inmates. Specifically, their bill involves new requirements to ensure that the state takes better care of pregnant inmates. The group reported in June 2021 that their bill, HB 1307, was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott.   

The following are some of the claims made by the watchdog group:

• Pregnant inmates allegedly haven’t been receiving good ob-gyn care, good nutrition, or adequate support.
• Many women in Texas have had miscarriages while incarcerated, allegedly due to inadequate medical care.
• After going through a miscarriage, women are allegedly put back into their cell without receiving any mental or medical health care.

The new bill, HB 1307, will go into effect on September 1, 2021. It requires jails to provide medical care and counseling for pregnant inmates, women who have miscarried, and women who were assaulted while incarcerated.

See Part 1 and this continuing series. In the next segment, learn more about HB 1307.

Posts on this website are added as resources to help county jail prisoners in Texas. It is not intended to suggest that individuals or institutions have engaged in wrongs.

–Guest Contributor