From Truthout:
Attorneys for an incarcerated mother in Alabama say she experienced nothing less than “torture” when she was jailed while pregnant, denied prescribed psychiatric medication and forced to give birth alone in a shower.
Authorities in Gadsden, Alabama, jailed Ashley Caswell during her high-risk pregnancy, ostensibly to protect the fetus from alleged drug use. However, after seven months of alleged medical neglect and being forced to sleep on a mat on the floor, Caswell gave birth alone inside the jail’s filthy shower in October 2021, according to a groundbreaking federal lawsuit filed on October 13 against the Etowah County Detention Center.
Caswell reportedly screamed in pain for hours after her water broke, demanding medication and asking to go to the hospital, but she was dismissed or ignored by jail staff, according to the complaint. After giving birth alone, she handed the baby to staffers who allegedly left her bleeding in the shower as they took photos holding the newborn. The umbilical cord was still attached to the placenta, which was moving violently inside Caswell’s body as she passed out from blood loss and pain. Continue reading >>>
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