Infant dead after mother forced to give birth in solitary confinement

WICHITA COUNTY, TX– Another casualty in the senseless drug war has been reported in Texas. Nicole Guerrero was arrested on a drug possession charge back in 2012, and alleges in a federal lawsuit that she was forced to give birth in solitary confinement while her cries for help were repeatedly ignored.

Guerrero was about 8½ months pregnant when she was taken into custody. Two weeks later she began experiencing contractions, and asked to see the nurse, identified in court documents as LaDonna Anderson. Anderson dismissed Guerrero’s complaints and sent her back to her cell.

Panicked, Geurerro repeatedly pressed the “medical emergency” button in her cell, but spent the next three hours being ignored. Guererro was sent to solitary confinement, or as her lawsuit states, “the cage”. She claims she was only given a mat to lay on as she began going into the final stages of labor.

Guerrero continued to scream for help, but only after the baby’s head appeared did Anderson step in. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, but Anderson, whose medical license expired 5 months earlier, did not perform CPR on the infant.

The suit makes further disturbing claims, alleging Guerrero was forced back into solitary after giving birth without receiving any medical attention. Her baby was taken to the hospital, where it was pronounced dead.

Pregnant women who have committed drug related crimes have found themselves in similar situations to Guerrero’s.

Kari Parsons was arrested after testing positive on a drug test not because it violated her probation, but because law enforcement stated she was endangering her baby’s life. Three weeks later, the baby’s life was almost lost after Parsons was forced to deliver in a filthy jail cell. Like Guerrero, she asked repeatedly for help, with even other inmates beseeching the guards to take her to the hospital, but instead Parsons was put in a solitary cell. Her son developed an infection because of the unsanitary conditions of his birth, but thankfully lived.

It’s estimated that one of every 33 females inmates are pregnant when they enter prison, and most are there for non-violent drug crimes. Instead of forcing these pregnant women into cages over drug or alcohol dependency, every leading medical organization has insisted the issue centers on health, and is best dealt with through education and community-based family treatment.

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