Bleeding Pregnant Woman Arrested in Emergency Room

Last Sunday, 24 year-old Melanie Williams was driving alone down a Jacksonville, Florida, road. She was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, bleeding, and feeling very faint. Melanie called 911 for help, telling the dispatcher that she felt like she was going to fall out of her car. The dispatcher told Melanie to pull over, but the line went dead and Melanie continued rushing toward the hospital. Her erratic driving caught the attention of the police, who pulled her over. While they were issuing a ticket, Melanie took off for the the hospital.

Here is where the story gets really disturbing. Melanie ran into the emergency room of St. Vincent's Hospital as she was pursued by two police officers. The officers caught up with her, jumped her, forced her stomach-down onto the floor by kneeling on her back, and then handcuffed her. All of this while Melanie pleaded with them that she bleeding and needed medical help.

While it is understandable that the police followed her into the hospital, having two officers tackle and subdue an obviously pregnant woman who is faint and bleeding is an extreme use of force in this situation. She posed a threat to no one. Yet, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says that the officers in question simply acted in accordance with their training. If that's the case, I'd say that Jacksonville police need better training when it comes to handling pregnant women.

Melanie's sister, Tihesha McGlashon, said it best: "There's a lot of things she could have done differently, but there's also a lot of things the officers could have done better." Of course Melanie acted irrationally and the police had every reason to pull her over. But Melanie was pregnant, light-headed, bleeding, and overcome with worry. What was the police officers' excuse?

The mistreatment of pregnant women by the legal system in this country must stop. We arrest them for falling down, taser them for not signing a ticket, confine them for seeking second opinions, and now we tackle them in the midst of a medical crisis. I am scared to ask, what's next?

In the case of Melanie Williams, she was arrested, charged, and booked while in the hospital, where she remains in good condition. She has been in and out of labor since Sunday. Her family has contacted a lawyer and are currently considering filing an official complaint with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Formal complaint or not, one can only hope that this incident gets the police to re-think their approach to dealing with pregnant women.

Photo credit: banspy