Judges will no longer have to automatically pause or delay sentences for pregnant women, or women with a child under one year old, and release them from prison if the case includes particularly serious crimes. The judges will be able to make the decision according to factors including danger to those involved. The notion was passed at the first reading in the Lower House and drafted by politicians from almost every political party. The bill now goes up for vote in the Senate.
For women with non-violent or serious crimes, the law will stay in place: a pregnant women or a women having a child under a year old, will have her sentence automatically delayed or paused until the child fulfills a year old.
Between 2015 and 2018 the courts placed 430 women in prison for serious crimes. Out of the 430 women, 13 women had delayed entrance into prison and 6 temporarily released from prison due to pregnancy or having a child under the age of one.
