The seven-months-pregnant officer reported contraction-like pains at work, but said she wasn’t allowed to leave for hours. The anti-abortion state is fighting her lawsuit, in part by saying her fetus didn’t clearly have rights.
A prison guard in Texas, Salia Issa, went into labor while working at her post. She requested to leave for the hospital but her supervisor denied her request multiple times over several hours. Issa eventually drove herself to the hospital where doctors discovered her baby was stillborn. Issa sued the prison for violating her rights and causing the death of her unborn child. However, the state is arguing it should not be held responsible and that an unborn fetus may not have rights. This is a stark contrast to Texas’ usual stance on fetal rights and protection of the unborn. Legal experts note the case highlights complications around determining when fetal personhood begins. It remains to be seen how courts will handle such issues going forward as states strengthen laws around fetal rights.
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“Just because several statutes define an individual to include an unborn child does not mean that the Fourteenth Amendment does the same,” the Texas attorney general’s office wrote in a March footnote, referring to the constitutional right to life.
“This Court need not weigh into the difficult question of whether, post-Dobbs, an unborn child possesses constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment,” wrote Benjamin Dower, with the attorney general’s special litigation office, in a January filing.
Represented by the attorney general’s office, as is the expectation for all state agencies that find themselves in court, TDCJ and Issa’s supervisors are asking a federal judge in the Western District of Texas to toss the lawsuit.
Despite decisions that “ultimately resulted in tragic consequences” and supervisorial conduct that was “blunt to the point of rudeness,” Dower wrote, the claims don’t prove the agency or its employees broke the law.
Issa and her husband say in court filings that she was seeking to leave work because her unborn child was suffering from a serious health condition, including a lack of oxygen and difficulty breathing during labor.
It refused to take up a related case out of Rhode Island in October, and Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the Dobbs ruling that it “is not based on any view about if and when prenatal life is entitled to any of the rights enjoyed after birth.”
I keep hearing all these stories about people who were in dire health circumstances asking permission to leave work. Why are they asking? Stop asking your employer if you can go home when you’re in danger. Tell them and don’t accept no for an answer.
Until workers start standing up for themselves and telling, not asking, nothing’s going to change.
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So if I understand this correctly, the fetus has rights, but only when it is convenient for the ends of hurting women.
This tracks with everything else they’ve been doing. They don’t care about life, they care about control, which this highlights perfectly.
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“Just because several statutes define an individual to include an unborn child does not mean that the Fourteenth Amendment does the same,” the Texas attorney general’s office wrote in a March footnote, referring to the constitutional right to life.
“This Court need not weigh into the difficult question of whether, post-Dobbs, an unborn child possesses constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment,” wrote Benjamin Dower, with the attorney general’s special litigation office, in a January filing.
Represented by the attorney general’s office, as is the expectation for all state agencies that find themselves in court, TDCJ and Issa’s supervisors are asking a federal judge in the Western District of Texas to toss the lawsuit.
Despite decisions that “ultimately resulted in tragic consequences” and supervisorial conduct that was “blunt to the point of rudeness,” Dower wrote, the claims don’t prove the agency or its employees broke the law.
Issa and her husband say in court filings that she was seeking to leave work because her unborn child was suffering from a serious health condition, including a lack of oxygen and difficulty breathing during labor.
It refused to take up a related case out of Rhode Island in October, and Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the Dobbs ruling that it “is not based on any view about if and when prenatal life is entitled to any of the rights enjoyed after birth.”
We should kick Texas out of the US.
I keep hearing all these stories about people who were in dire health circumstances asking permission to leave work. Why are they asking? Stop asking your employer if you can go home when you’re in danger. Tell them and don’t accept no for an answer.
Until workers start standing up for themselves and telling, not asking, nothing’s going to change.
Normally would agree, but prison guard may be one job where they are perfectly.setup to stop you leaving
Youre right, but it sounds like they actively prevented her from leaving her post in this case.
False imprisonment seems like a pretty good reason to call the police.
Texas is absolutely disgusting !
That’s because it’s never truly been about the rights of the fetus, it’s always been about controlling women
Alternative Headline: Prison Guard Finds Out They’re Actually A Prisoner.