republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/151/hb-342.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TREATMENT OF PREGNANT AND POST-PARTUM PRISONERS.	Delaware law already prohibits the use of restraints on women who are giving birth or in labor except in limited circumstances. This Act expands that protection to include women in the second or third trimester of pregnancy and those in the 13-week immediate post-partum period. Wrist restraints fastened in front of the body may be used during transport except during labor or delivery or while being transported with a newborn. Wrist, leg, and waist restraints may also be used in extraordinary circumstances, but a licensed medical professional must be notified as soon as practicable when waist or leg restraints are applied and examine the prisoner within 10 minutes of the notification. Leg and waist restraints are prohibited for prisoners in labor and delivery.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	151	HB 342	Delaware HB 342 (151)	bill		enacted	Bryan Townsend Debra Heffernan Marie Pinkney Melissa Minor-Brown S. Elizabeth Lockman Sarah McBride Sherry Dorsey Walker	3	11	2	2022-03-16	2022-07-25	openstates	ocd-bill/1b9e2e8e-c81d-477e-a5eb-1c19d10bc5fd	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=79248	82c4c826c838c7743018e36f2906fca6d8c88676a02fc37fbc1fbd517f95db47	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 342 (151) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TREATMENT OF PREGNANT AND POST-PARTUM PRISONERS.

Delaware law already prohibits the use of restraints on women who are giving birth or in labor except in limited circumstances. This Act expands that protection to include women in the second or third trimester of pregnancy and those in the 13-week immediate post-partum period. Wrist restraints fastened in front of the body may be used during transport except during labor or delivery or while being transported with a newborn. Wrist, leg, and waist restraints may also be used in extraordinary circumstances, but a licensed medical professional must be notified as soon as practicable when waist or leg restraints are applied and examine the prisoner within 10 minutes of the notification. Leg and waist restraints are prohibited for prisoners in labor and delivery.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source
2. HA 1 to HB 342 (committee substitute) — source
3. HA 2 to HB 342 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 20–0 (pass) · upper
• SM — 39–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Bryan Townsend — primary (person)
• Debra Heffernan — primary (person)
• Marie Pinkney — primary (person)
• Melissa Minor-Brown — primary (person)
• S. Elizabeth Lockman — primary (person)
• Sarah McBride — primary (person)
• Sherry Dorsey Walker — primary (person)
• David Bentz — cosponsor (person)
• David P. Sokola — cosponsor (person)
• Eric Morrison — cosponsor (person)
• John A. Kowalko — cosponsor (person)
• Kendra Johnson — cosponsor (person)
• Kyle Evans Gay — cosponsor (person)
• Madinah Wilson-Anton — cosponsor (person)
• Paul S. Baumbach — cosponsor (person)
• Sherae'a Moore — cosponsor (person)
• Stephanie T. Bolden — cosponsor (person)
• Stephanie L. Hansen — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2022-03-16 Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2022-05-18 Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 10 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2022-06-09 Amendment HA 1 to HB 342 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2022-06-09 Amendment HA 2 to HB 342 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2022-06-09 Amendment HA 1 to HB 342 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2022-06-09 Amendment HA 2 to HB 342 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2022-06-09 Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT passage
• 2022-06-09 Assigned to Corrections & Public Safety Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2022-06-14 Reported Out of Committee (Corrections & Public Safety) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2022-06-21 Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT passage
• 2022-07-25 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/1b9e2e8e-c81d-477e-a5eb-1c19d10bc5fd. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).