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Abstract: 

The leading case on the issue of abortion for incarcerated women is Monmouth County Correctional Institutional Inmates v. Lanzaro, 834 F.2d 326 (3rd Cir. 1987). In that case the plaintiffs challenged County policy with regard to elective, non-therapeutic abortions. Inmates were required to obtain a court order in order to be released on their own recognizance so that they could obtain an abortion. Does the Right to Procreate Survive Incarceration? Gerber v. Hickman, 264 F.3d 882 (9th Cir. 2001) addresses this contrasting issue. William Gerber, as a repeat offender, was serving a sentence of 100 years to life plus 11 years. Since California regulations prohibited conjugal visits for such inmates, he requested permission to give his semen to a laboratory so that his wife could be artificially inseminated.

Keywords: prohibition, precondition, Victoria W. v. Larpenter, Turner v. Safley, Skinner v. Oklahoma

Affiliations:  1: Pace University School of Law Library.