Being a prisoner entails daily indignities, some of which are unavoidable. But for sheer cruelty and pointless degradation, it is hard to top the shackling of women who are pregnant, in labor or caring for their newborns.

The practice has never made any sense. Apart from the fact that women giving birth or about to give birth pose little threat to anyone, handcuffs, waist chains and ankle manacles introduce very real health risks to the mother and her fetus. The American Medical Association has called the practice “barbaric.”

Yet it is perfectly legal in 28 states, and was common practice in New York until 2009, when Gov. David Paterson signed a law prohibiting shackling a woman before, during or immediately after labor and delivery.

The practice appears not to have disappeared in New York. A survey revealed that 23 of 27 incarcerated women who gave birth in the five years after the legislation passed were shackled illegally, according to the Correctional Association of New York, an inmate advocacy group. Many others were shackled during their pregnancies on medical visits or transfers between prisons, which can involve bus rides of up to 10 hours.