Approximately 3 percent of women in jail the United States in 2017 were pregnant at the time of admission, according to data collected by researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. But with thousands of jails nationwide, and no central oversight, astonishingly little is known about people’s access to abortions. A new report released Tuesday offers a glimpse at how jails in Illinois provide reproductive care and found that fewer than one-third of the state’s jails have written policies on abortions. The policies that do exist are often vague and confusing and may include steep barriers, like requiring a person to make arrangements for or pay for the procedure themselves, even though they are locked up.

A Marshall Project review of pregnancy policies in 27 jails across 12 states found similar patterns elsewhere, as did a recent study in Oregon. The studies suggest that even in places where abortion remains legal after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights in jail are precarious and limited.

Carolyn Sufrin, an obstetrician-gynecologist and author of the 2017 book “Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars,” said the stakes of access to abortion are especially high for incarcerated people. Their access to nutritious food, good health care and support from friends and family are compromised. They may be shackled during birth or separated from their newborn just hours after delivery. “Each of these steps is laden with trauma. So for those who cannot access abortion because they are incarcerated, they are prevented from trying to avoid pregnancy, prevented from having a say in their birth, and prevented from parenting, all in one pregnancy,” Sufrin said.

Emily Werth, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Illinois and one of the new report’s authors, said the fact that so few jails provided written policies regarding abortion was troubling. Without clear guidance, staff can make decisions based on their personal beliefs instead of the wishes of a pregnant person.

“If there are not written policies setting out these standards in the first place, we can and should assume that there will not be respect for legal obligations or best practices,” she said.

The jail where Paige was incarcerated, for example, provided no written guidelines to the report’s authors. Paige never got an abortion.

Officials at the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office did not provide a comment in response  to a Marshall Project request and did not confirm or deny Paige’s account. The Marshall Project was unable to access Paige’s jail medical records or messages, but her mother confirmed that Paige told her about the incident at the time.

“It was supposed to be my decision. Not anybody else’s but mine. And I felt like that did get taken from me,” Paige said.

Read the full article about jail abortion policies by Shannon Heffernan at The19th.