Texas Prison Guard Files Lawsuit After Being Forced To Work During Labor, Delivering Stillborn Baby

The legal rights of an “unborn child” is being questioned by the state of Texas. This is in regards to a lawsuit brought by a prison guard. She had delivered a stillborn baby because she says that prison officials wouldn’t let her leave work for over two hours. She had been feeling discomfort from pains similar to contractions.

Last year, Salia Issa filed the lawsuit. She claimed that hospital workers told her that they could have saved the baby if she had come in sooner. In 2021, Issa had been 7 months pregnant when she had gone to work at a state prison in Abilene. Then, she started to have a pregnancy emergency.

When Issa attempted to leave because she was having intense pains, her supervisors believed that she was lying and wouldn’t let her go. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s guidelines state that a corrections officer can be fired for leaving their post unattended.

Eventually, someone came to take over her post.  Issa then drove herself to a medical facility where she had a emergency surgery.

Issa is now looking for monetary damages to pay for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and funeral costs associated with her stillborn child. She feels as though the death of her child was due to her supervisors’ violation of state and federal laws as well as the U.S. Constitution.

The state’s attorney general’s office and prison system have requested that a judge dismiss the matter.

However, last week, U. S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower recommended that the the case be allowed to continue without discussing the argument over the rights of the fetus.