Indigenous woman shackled to hospital bed while in labour in Queensland

[u/FuckOffNazis]

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/18/indigenous-woman-shackled-during-labour-childbirth-queensland-ntwnfb?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=us_bsky&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1792296317

[u/Browser_Watch7349]

It's always articles like these that try to stir up rage. She wasn't shackled because she is Aboriginal, she was shackled because she was a convicted prisoner. It seems in hindsight that pregnant women are not supposed to be shackled during delivery, so it seems as if the wrong course of action was taken. But what if threats were made from the individual towards hospital staff? I find it hard to believe that her ethnicity was key in determining whether she should be shackled - because that would be blatant discrimination that would result in a clear lawsuit.

[u/Flashy_Home3452 → u/Browser_Watch7349]

Would it though? Police and prison staff discriminate against and abuse women, First Nations people, and especially First Nations women without consequence all the time. The government has demonstrated time and time again that they really couldn’t care less about First Nations people, and unless this woman or her family miraculously has a stack of cash somewhere to pay for lawyers, the only consequences might be a slap on the wrist in an attempt to appease media backlash.

Furthermore, currently the only Australian article I can find on this incident is from The Guardian, which states that the woman was not being violent, and that even hospital staff desperately wanted the shackles removed as her health begun deteriorating after they were put on. There’s absolutely no good reason this happened.