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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

New Supports for MN's Pregnant Inmates Begin Today

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Tuesday, July 1, 2014   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The first law in the state to consider the unique needs of women in prison who are pregnant begins today. Jessica Anderson, director of legislative affairs and communications for Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota, says this new law is a first step toward creating healthy beginnings for an especially vulnerable population of children - babies born to incarcerated mothers.

"We know that one of the best ways to ensure that a child has a healthy start in life is to support its mother during pregnancy, postpartum and beyond," says Anderson. "And so, that's exactly what this new law sets out to do. It establishes some preliminary standards of care, treatment and education."

One of the law's provisions bans the use of restraints through three days following birth, except in extraordinary circumstances. Another measure allows pregnant inmates access to a certified doula if there is no charge to the facility, as the Isis Rising Prison Doula Program helped develop the law.

Anderson notes this is an issue that affects more families across Minnesota than one might think, with an estimated 4,200 pregnant women arrested in the state every year.

"And their pregnancies are often high-risk and compromised by a number of variables that increase the likelihood of poor birth outcomes," she notes. "So, it's a lot of women and a lot of children we are dealing with here."

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