After a motion was submitted to have an inmate’s unborn infant freed from custody, a strange legal issue may soon be resolved in Miami-Dade.
Natalia Harrell, 24, was pregnant when she was arrested in July on a second-degree murder allegation; the emergency petition was submitted on her behalf last week.
“An unborn infant is a person,” said William Norris, an advocate for the foetuses. In accordance with the Constitution, “no individual shall be dispossessed of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
The uncommon appeal asserts that Harrell’s lack of connection has resulted in substandard prenatal treatment for the unborn child, who has now been in the womb for about eight months. Harris argued, “I am asserting the right of an individual whose humanity has not been taken into account in the choice to imprison his mother.”
Baby’s lawyers say Harrell hasn’t seen an OB/GYN since October of 2022, when they say she was supposed to see one as part of her pregnancy care at a nearby hospital.
The petition claims that “respondents have failed to provide the pregnant woman with fair and essential prenatal treatment.”
On Monday, authorities with the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections issued a comment in response to the appeal.
It is the policy of Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation, in conjunction with Jackson Health System, to provide all detainees with expert, prompt medical care and all necessary therapy. To ensure that all prenatal care given to women in our custody is suitable, we are undertaking a comprehensive review of the services provided and received.
The appeal states that the unborn child is a person under Florida law and has due process rights even though it has not been charged with an offence. It aims to get the infant out of the womb as soon as possible.
Harrell was taken into custody in Miami last July after allegedly shooting and killing another lady in a Rideshare.
Gladys Yvette Borcela, 28, had been shot by Harrell, according to the police. The two women had gotten into an altercation.
Harrell claimed she was attacked by Borcela and feared for her and her pregnant child’s safety when she fired the deadly shot, according to a petition to establish bail she submitted last month.
According to the motion, Harrell plans to file a request to have the case thrown out based on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” legislation.
Read Also: Jansen Panettiere, Hayden Panettiere’s younger brother, dies at 28