The California legislature passed a bill to stop the inhumane and dangerous practice of shackling pregnant inmates, even into labor. Even better, not a single member decided to register a dissenting vote against this legislation. Yet despite that unanimous, bipartisan support, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the proposed law.

A growing number of medical professionals have spoken out against the potential harm these restraints can cause to a woman and her newborn. The women in question are mostly in prison for non-violent offenses and don't need such a high level of constraints to keep them from attempted escape ... as if pregnancy and being about to give birth didn't also make flight or attacks on guards particularly difficult.

In March, Washington become the seventh state to ban this degrading, harmful, and unnecessary practice.

With unanimous support for the bill in state legislature, Gov. Schwarzenegger shouldn't be able to be a one-man army in the way of women's reproductive rights. Tell the California legislature to override Schwarzenegger's veto and protect pregnant inmates.