H.R. 6878 · 117th Congress

Pregnant Women in Custody Act

Introduced on Mar 1, 2022 by Karen Bass (D-CA-37). 36 cosponsors, 3 of them from another party. Latest action (Dec 5, 2022): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Stage
Passed one chamber
Introduced
Mar 1, 2022
Cosponsors
36
3 from the other party
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Open in the Congress explorerCongress.govAlert me

Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To address the health needs of incarcerated women related to pregnancy and childbirth, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Administrative law and regulatory procedures
  • Administrative remedies
  • Child care and development
  • Child health
  • Congressional oversight
  • Correctional facilities and imprisonment
  • Cosmetics and personal care
  • Criminal justice information and records
  • Debt collection
  • Department of Justice
  • Detention of persons
  • Digestive and metabolic diseases
  • Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
  • Employment and training programs
  • Family planning and birth control
  • Family services
  • Food assistance and relief
  • Government Accountability Office (GAO)
  • Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
  • Government information and archives
  • Government studies and investigations
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Health care coverage and access
  • Health information and medical records
  • Health promotion and preventive care
  • Hospital care
  • Infectious and parasitic diseases
  • Judicial procedure and administration
  • Law enforcement administration and funding
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Medical tests and diagnostic methods
  • Mental health
  • Nutrition and diet
  • Poverty and welfare assistance
  • Sex and reproductive health
  • Sexually transmitted diseases
  • State and local government operations
  • Women's health

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Passed House, Dec 1, 2022). Public domain.

Pregnant Women in Custody Act

This bill establishes requirements to address the health needs of incarcerated women related to pregnancy and childbirth. The bill requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to collect data on the health needs of incarcerated pregnant women at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels. With respect to incarcerated women at the federal level, the bill

  • requires the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to provide appropriate services and programs to address the health and safety needs related to pregnancy and childbirth, as well as appropriate health care to a woman with a high-risk pregnancy;
  • limits the use of restrictive housing for prisoners who are pregnant or in postpartum recovery; and
  • requires the BOP to report annually on the number of administrative claims and appeals filed by pregnant inmates.

With respect to incarcerated women at the state and local levels, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to study the services and protections for pregnant incarcerated women in state and local correctional settings.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Karen BassD-CA-37Sponsor

Democrats · 33

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

  1. On Passage
    Dec 1, 2022· House· Passage· Passed 324–90

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Mar 1, 2022Introduced in House
  2. Mar 1, 2022Introduced in House
  3. Mar 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Mar 1, 2022 · HouseReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Jul 13, 2022 · HouseCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  6. Jul 13, 2022 · HouseOrdered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  7. Sep 13, 2022Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 117-465, Part I.
  8. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseReported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 117-465, Part I.
  9. Sep 13, 2022Committee on the Budget discharged.
  10. Sep 13, 2022 · HouseCommittee on the Budget discharged.
  11. Sep 13, 2022 · HousePlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 361.
  12. Nov 30, 2022 · HouseRules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1499 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3372, H.R. 6878, H.R. 8876 and H.J. Res. 100. The resolution provides for adoption of H. Res. 1495 and H. Con. Res. 118.
  13. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseConsidered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1499. (consideration: CR H8686-8693; text: CR H8687-8689)
  14. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseRule provides for consideration of H.R. 3372, H.R. 6878, H.R. 8876 and H.J. Res. 100. The resolution provides for adoption of H. Res. 1495 and H. Con. Res. 118.
  15. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 6878.
  16. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseDEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 1499, the House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Lois Frankel amendment No. 1.
  17. Dec 1, 2022 · HousePOSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 6878, the Chair put the question on passage of the bill and by voice vote announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Fitzgerald demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  18. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H8694-8695)
  19. Dec 1, 2022Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 324 - 90 (Roll no. 493).House · Roll call 493
  20. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseOn passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 324 - 90 (Roll no. 493).House · Roll call 493
  21. Dec 1, 2022 · HouseMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  22. Dec 5, 2022 · SenateReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 6, 2026 · loaded Oct 6, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.