Woman Jailed for Getting Pregnant Dies From Medical Neglect

[Swede]

This like something out of Dickens.



Thrown in jail for getting pregnant? That seems like a particularly absurd violation of women's reproductive rights. But it's actually an established policy in Allegheny County, PA. Cara reports at the Curvature that, for Amy Lynn Gillespie, becoming pregnant meant violating the terms of her work release under probation, and getting thrown in jail. Yet this story comes to an even more tragic ending, because Gillespie died while in custody from advanced pneumonia.

http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/woman_jailed_for_getting_pregnant_dies_from_medical_neglect

[FiveGoodMen]

1. If there were a god there would be no living Americans

We don't deserve to exist.

[Fumesucker]

3. "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever. "

-Thomas Jefferson

Your observation is hardly a new one, eh?

[FiveGoodMen]

6. Huh. So we've always sucked.

[MadMaddie]

2. Comment from the article that is horribly true.

<snip>
Bill Ward

Some people get pregnant and end up on "dancing with the stars", This poor unfortunate young woman got pregnant and thrown in jail and eventually died.

<snip>

[BlueIris]

22. So true.

And vile.

[bliss_eternal]

4. murderers...!

:cry::mad::grr::cry:

[blue neen]

5. This is horrible--yet none of the local news channels found this newsworthy.

Your post is the first I've heard of this tragedy, and I'm from Pittsburgh.

Yet, the local ABC affiliate has been reporting on DWTS, ad nauseum. Quite interesting. Reward the rich girl for getting pregnant, kill the poor one.


Here is the only local news to be found:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10321/1103874-53.stm

[femrap]

7. This is how hated

women are in this country. Fucking patriarchy.

I hope her mother sues them until all parties' eyes are bleeding.

[blue neen]

12. Yep, no news on it, so no one can show up at the march!

It would be interesting to see who the judge was on this case.

Something really smells here.

[femrap]

24. Is there

a NOW Chapter in PA that could get this news out via email alerts?

I want these son-of-a-short-dicks to pay.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. K&R

[McCamy Taylor]

9. OMG! This deserves federal prosecution! It was a hate crime directed at a woman.

Come on Obama DOJ. A civil verdict with a settlement will not go nearly far enough in prosecuting the people who made this happen.

[Kennah]

10. I suppose execution for having an abortion will be next

<Shaking head in disgust>

[struggle4progress]

11. It's hard to know what to make of the circumstances of the case

The lawsuit alleges inadequate medical care

... The attorney for 27-year-old Amy Lynn Gillespie says she went into the jail pregnant, but in good health. Within a month, she died from bacterial pneumonia ... While in jail, she started complaining of feeling ill. Peirce claims the guards ignored her ... “They didn’t give her the basic cultures, they didn’t take an x-ray,” he said. “Had they done these simple things she could have been prescribed antibiotics that would have take care of pneumonia.” ...
Pregnant Inmate Dies, Family Sues County Jail
November 16, 2010 9:27 PM
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2010/11/16/pregnant-inmate-dies-family-sues-county-jail/

And the jail has some history of questionable medical practice

... Women and Girls Foundation CEO Heather Arnet said that jail Warden Ramon Rustin has worked with similar coalitions to resolve issues like the shackling of women during childbirth, which was discontinued ...
Pregnant inmate's death protested
Several organizations argue for policy changes at county jail
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://postgazette.com/pg/10328/1105750-53.stm

As a general rule, I'd agree with the following take:

... Women and Girls Foundation CEO Heather Arnet .. also said that the circumstances of Ms. Gillespie's return to jail raise the question of whether no-sexual-contact conditions for work release may be inherently discriminatory ...
Pregnant inmate's death protested
Several organizations argue for policy changes at county jail
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10328/1105750-53.stm

But it's not immediately clear to me that no-sexual-contact conditions for release are always inappropriate:

... In 2007, she was caught taking shampoo and steak from the Bridgeville Giant Eagle, and told the arresting officer that she did it because she was hungry. That year she was also caught stealing two $55 silver rings from Macy's ... In 2008, she was picked up for soliciting men on Brownsville Road. Put on probation, she was referred to the Program for Reintegration Development and Empowerment of Exploited Individuals, which offers counseling and services to women arrested for prostitution. She didn't comply with her probation terms ...
County sued over death of pregnant inmate
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10321/1103874-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml

[Canuckistanian]

13. My God.

This is WORSE than Dickens. Even 19th century England didn't arrest women for being pregnant.

Where the FUCK did THAT law come from? On second thought, never mind, I know EXACTLY where it came from.

Fucking bastards, all of 'em.

[tblue37]

14. Look at this part!

Gillespie should not have been in jail in the first place: to imprison a woman for becoming pregnant is a violation of her human rights, and should not be a condition of probation or work release. To then neglect her, when the very pregnant condition she was locked up for meant that she needed extra medical attention, is horrifying. The crimes that got her in trouble with the law in the first place were minor shoplifting (when caught stealing food, she told the police officer she was hungry) and prostitution (which, though illegal, hurts nobody) <emphasis added>. Amy Lynn Gillespie's unnecessary death is nothing short of tragic, and highlights deep flaws with the Allegheny County prison system.

[truedelphi]

31. How very true. And how very telling.

Meanwhile the bigger (and real) crooks are pocketing untold billions of dollars from their last round of bonuses, and with the holidays here, about to pocket even more.

[zbdent]

15. Interesting ... in this story ... there's all this talk about her being pregnant ...

but no mention of the "death of the fetus" ... if it were a person on drugs, or someone abusing the woman, you'd hear about the "perp" being charged with the death of the unborn child, on top of whatever else being charged.

I wonder if they're going to sue for the death of the fetus?

[blue neen]

16. There is a link to coverage on one of Pittsburgh's news channels.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2010/11/16/pregnant-inmate-dies-family-sues-county-jail/


I just called the local ABC affiliate, WTAE, to complain about their lack of coverage.

[me b zola]

17. K&R

:grr:

[BeFree]

20. Step outta line...

...the man come and take you away.

:grrr: is right.

[tblue37]

18. If we call it an abortion, then maybe we can get rightwingers mad about it

[BlancheSplanchnik]

26. nah, they'd label her a slut

and tacitly supporting the prison's neglect, wash their hands of the matter.

"She got what she deserved", they'll say. Virtuously.

[Terra Alta]

19. When I saw the title to this OP

I thought it had taken place in a country where women are constantly treated like second-class citizens and abused.. but to think it took place right here in the good old US of A.. shameful, to say the least. This is just barbaric and those responsible should be punished in the severest way possible. :grr:

[Truth2Tell]

29. It DID take place

in a country where women are constantly treated like second-class citizens and abused.

[Riley18]

21. Justice only for those who can afford it.

[Starry Messenger]

23. recommend.

[Zephie]

25. Kick. This can't be ignored.

[Scruffy1]

27. It seems about only 20 showed up to protest

Should be about a million. Oh I forgot, body scanners is the issue of the day not murder and real rights. And liberals wonder why politicians ignore them.

[Greyhound]

28. K&R. Shocking, but not surprising.

What's that saying? Something like PA. is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia separated by Missouri.

Oh well, I'm sure something's on teevee...
:kick: & R

[ZombieHorde]

30. WTF?! Recommended. nt

[The Doctor.]

32. We're on the brink of becoming a 3rd world country.

This is horrible.

[tblue37]

33. kick nt