An Alabama woman filed a federal lawsuit after the Etowah County jail forced her to deliver her baby alone in a jail shower, according to a news release.
Pregnancy Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Ashley Caswell, who was two months into her pregnancy when she was sent to jail in March 2021. The jail denied her psychiatric medication in the name of her pregnancy and also denied her regular prenatal visits, according to the news release.
“Giving birth to my son without any medical help in the jail shower was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. My body was falling apart, and no one would listen to me. No one cared,” Caswell said in the news release. “I thought I’d lose my baby, my life, and never see my other kids again.”
In October 2021, Caswell labored for nearly 12 hours after staff ignored her cries to be taken to a hospital, the release states. The medical staff gave her Tylenol for her pain. Staff eventually took her to the jail showers, where she delivered alone on the concrete floor, the release states. She experienced life-threatening placental abruption, “which almost caused her to bleed to death,” according to the news release.
“Ashley is the latest victim of the Etowah County Jail, which consistently punishes pregnant women in the name of protecting ‘unborn children’ while simultaneously endangering their lives,” said Emma Roth, a Pregnancy Justice senior staff attorney. “They stripped her of her dignity, violated her constitutional rights, and again showed their callous disregard for mothers and children. The abuses and violations are numerous, and there is simply no word to describe what she endured other than ‘torture.’”
Caswell handed her baby to staff before she passed out, the release stated. The staff took photos with her newborn without her consent while the baby was still attached to her body through the umbilical cord, according to the release.
“We cannot continue disappearing people into prisons and jails, where we ignore their rights and needs and subject them to unspeakable cruelty,” said Southern Poverty Law Center Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Ramaswamy. “Like all those incarcerated, Ashley is a human being worthy of compassion and entitled to life and health. And she nearly died giving birth alone in a shower while jail officials stood around and took photos.”
The lawsuit against Etowah County seeks unspecified damages for the jail’s alleged deliberate indifference to Caswell’s medical needs, a constitutional rights violation, and other claims.
“Ms. Caswell’s case is part of a disturbing pattern of inhumane treatment at the jail, where most women are held on Alabama leads the nation in pregnancy criminalization, and Etowah County is the epicenter, targeting at least 257 pregnant women and new mothers, according to local reports, in recent years,” the release stated.