Texas Prison Guard Sues Pro-Life State Over Stillbirth Caused By Work

A prison guard in Texas is suing the state after claiming that her supervisor’s refusal to let her leave a shift caused her to lose her baby. The state’s defense on the matter undermines their pro-life stance impacting their medical laws.

According to The Guardian, Salia Issa filed the lawsuit on grounds that she was prohibited from leaving work to seek medical attention for labor pains. At the time, Issa was seven months pregnant. Hours after initially telling management about her condition, she was allowed to leave. Unfortunately, doctors could no longer locate a heartbeat from the fetus, and Issa gave birth to the stillborn.

Issa claims that her child would have survived had she been able to go to the hospital earlier. She is suing the state’s department of criminal justice as well as multiple supervisors for their negligence.

However, the state’s defense asserts that the agency is not at fault as it is unclear whether the unborn child had rights, which would undermine its pro-life stance. Despite this, the state assures that its pro-life principles remain intact despite fetal rights not applying in this case.

“Just because several statutes define an individual to include an unborn child does not mean that the 14th amendment does the same,” the office of the Texas attorney general said in response. The state also noted that the incident happened before Roe v. Wade was overturned, pointing out that the stillborn occurred while abortion rights were still enacted.

“This Court need not weigh into the difficult question of whether, post-Dobbs, an unborn child possesses constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment,” the filing additionally stated, as re-shared by the Texas Tribune. “Even if he or she does, that right was not clearly established on November 15, 2021.”

The magistrate court is allowing the lawsuit to continue, potentially leading to further contradiction from the Alamo state.