Pennsylvania Statutes Title 61 Pa.C.S.A. Prisons and Parole § 5905.1. Restrictive housing prohibited for pregnant or postpartum incarcerated individuals and detainees

(a) Restrictive housing prohibited.--Except as provided under subsection (c), a pregnant or postpartum incarcerated individual or detainee may not be involuntarily placed in restrictive housing in any correctional institution in this Commonwealth.

(b) Alternative discipline.--Forms of discipline for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated individuals or detainees shall be limited to sanctions, including restrictions on telephone usage or visitation or other common forms of alternative discipline used in the United States.

(c) Exceptions.--A pregnant or postpartum incarcerated individual or detainee may be placed in restrictive housing only as a temporary response to behavior that poses a serious and immediate risk of physical harm to the pregnant or postpartum incarcerated individual or detainee, another incarcerated individual or detainee, the unborn child of the pregnant incarcerated individual or detainee or staff. The following shall apply:

(d) Bed assignments.--The correctional institution may not assign a pregnant incarcerated individual or detainee to any bed that is elevated more than three feet from the floor of the facility.

(e) Definition.--As used in this section, the term “postpartum” means the eight-week period, or longer as determined by the health care professional responsible for the health and safety of the incarcerated individual or detainee, following childbirth.