Last year, a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) settled a lawsuit in New Jersey that led to convicted criminals being incarcerated in prisons that match their “gender identity” instead of their biological sex. And now, two women in the prison are pregnant, officials have confirmed.

The women were not identified, and it is not clear if they were impregnated by one or more of the 27 “transgender women” who are housed in the state’s only all-women’s prison.

Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women officials did say, however, that the sex between prisoners was consensual.

The Daily Mail picked up on the story first reported by NJ.com:

ACLU legal director Jeanne LoCicero defended on Tuesday the policy, saying it ensured the rights of trans prisoners were not violated.

“[It’s] in line with New Jersey’s strong anti-discrimination laws that prevent discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender identity,” LoCicero said in the article.

The Mail report continued:

In 2021, two Edna Mahan prisoners filed a lawsuit seeking for the gender identity policy to be revoked, after they were allegedly harassed by transgender prisoners. The women also claimed the transgender inmates were engaging in sexual activity with cisgender prisoners. Critics of the settlement with the ACLU argue that the measure is yet another burden for a state prison that has seen alarming reports of abuse and rape by guards throughout the last decade.

The correctional officers’ union at the prison opposes the policy.

“We opposed this policy change believing it would be detrimental to the general population of female inmates being housed at Edna Mahan and also bring added stress to our correctional police officers assigned to this institution,” the union’s president told NJ.com.

The Mail reported that in recent years, Edna Mahan has faced reports of abuse and dysfunction at the institution. Ten prison guards are facing criminal charges for an alleged assault on inmates, including a transgender woman, in January of 2020.

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