15 years in prison for "endangering a fetus"? Then giving birth only for that child to not have a mommy during childhood, adolescence, and teenage years?

And this is considered good policy by those who create these laws?

wtf

Jesus, what a nightmare story. That entire article is filled with horror. She must have felt so terrified and alone.

"After Caswell delivered her baby alone and lost consciousness, staff still refused to render aid and instead took photos of her baby without her consent, her lawyers allege. When she returned to the jail from the hospital, staff denied her access to her prescribed breast pump and ibuprofen."

Wtf is wrong with people? It's so fucking petty and mean. I'm gonna assume that none of the staff will actually face any consequences..?

But over the next seven months of incarceration for “chemical endangerment” in the Etowah county detention center (ECDC), Caswell was denied regular access to prenatal visits, even as officials were aware her pregnancy was high-risk due to her hypertension and abnormal pap smears, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday against the county and the sheriff’s department. She was also denied her prescribed psychiatric medication and slept on a thin mat on the concrete floor of the detention center for her entire pregnancy.

It’s never been about protecting the fetus, it’s always been about punishing the woman for being a “slut”

Conservatism is a plague of oppression, misery and death. It always has been.

If a conservative can find a way to cause harm, they must do it. That is simply who they are at their core.

This case shows they’re doing precisely the opposite,” said Roth, who said the abuses Caswell endured were tantamount to “torture”.

No, it was full-blown torture. There's no room for interpretation here.

Women across the country have increasingly been jailed for pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriages and stillbirths.

Geez. I don't even know what to say. Miscarriages are way more common than people realize. In fact, it's possible that miscarriages out number full-term pregnancies. There are so many NORMAL biological factors that could trigger a miscarriage.

It's an incredibly complex and nuanced field of biology, and this simplistic mindset of "miscarriage means bad woman" is both disturbing and alarming.

what a "pro-life" move right? letting a mother and a newborn baby almost fucking die in prison

U.S.A. The country where sociopathy is celebrated as a virtue by about half the population.

If you had any doubts, the half is of course mainly Republicans.

Another proud moment for Christianity

I think women should maybe leave these places if they can. I wouldn’t even let a man think about having kids with me if I were a woman in any of those shit states.

If you are a woman, voting republican, you should be fucking ashamed of yourself. This is what this party thinks of you and your kind.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/3-hospitals-closing-maternity-labor-delivery-units-alabama-rcna111374

So they're losing maternity wards and jailing pregnant people. What a shithole.

Addicted to meth? That's jail time. Wait, you're a mother and you're pregnant? That's super jail time, 15 years for you. Have to fuck over your kids' lives as much as possible. You also don't get medical care and you have to give birth in a fungus-infested jail shower. Definitely ethical treatment under law here!

How anyone could vote for any republican is beyond reason. On top of being worthless traitor filth, they actively oppress women and endanger our future generations. Simply unfathomable.

It's never been about the children. It has always been about controlling and dehumanizing women as this story so clearly demonstrates.

What about the risk for the mother? Holy shit, she didn't even have access to a basic maternity ward. America is fucked.

Can the baby sue for false imprisonment?

And that's why we don't punish that shit with jail time.

Under His Eye

Caswell, who has faced several chemical endangerment charges over the years, is now in state prison, serving a 15-year sentence.

What. The. Fuck. There are men who beat the absolute shit out of their girlfriends and spouses, for the 5th time, sometimes nearly kill them, and never see the inside of a jail cell or any charges at all. Or they get a few months and when they get the cops called on them for beating the shit out of another woman, they don't even get a parole or probation violation. Sometimes women get arrested, bloody with black eyes, while the person who did it walks away with barely a scratch and zero charges. I'm just speaking from personal here, but this happens with tons of other things. Sexual assault specifically. The supreme court just made it legal for people who have been charged with domestic violence to own/buy a fucking gun while out on bail.

I'm not defending using drugs while pregnant, and it's stupid I feel I even have to say that. But this sentence just shows, clear as day, the utter contempt the US has for women. And that the US prison system, and entire criminal justice system, constitutes actual torture - as they said in the article. I'm ashamed be an American, what an absolute Gilead shithole of a country.