Alabama House bill would allow pregnant women to delay incarceration

An Alabama House committee approved legislation earlier this month that would allow women who are pregnant to delay the start of their incarceration for several weeks after giving birth.

HB 138, sponsored by Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, allows women booked into jail to take a pregnancy test, be given bond and released from pretrial confinement, and places them on supervised probation for up to 12 weeks after giving birth before they begin serving their prison sentence.

The judge will determine if the person is eligible to be released if she poses a danger to herself or to the community.

“With the Women’s CARE Act, we focus on providing appropriate care for those who are pregnant at the time of arrest or detention, emphasizing the deferment of time served rather than complete exemption from sentencing,” Hollis told members of the House Judiciary Committee during its April 9 meeting.

Hollis introduced nearly identical legislation in 2024 and managed to get it approved in the House Judiciary Committee with roughly the same number of days left in the session as this year. However, it failed to get consideration on the House floor.

The bill states that a woman who is pregnant or thinks she is pregnant will have the option of taking a pregnancy test. If a woman is pregnant, the test result will be reported to the court and the county health department.

She will then be released on bail during the court proceedings. If the court sentences her to be incarcerated, she will then be sentenced to supervised probation up to12 weeks after she gives birth to the child, with the time she served while on probation getting credited toward her sentence.

Any fines, fees and restitution she owes will be suspended while she is serving pre-incarceration probation.

After that time, the individual will surrender to the Alabama Department of Corrections, the county or municipal jail, or be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine.

A woman must report the loss of a pregnancy to the court within 72 hours while she is serving probation prior to getting incarcerated, and the court will determine when she begins her incarceration.

“I have spoken with many women who have experienced this nightmare, and did not get the proper medical attention that they should get,” Hollis said.