SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Coerced to have abortions, miscarriages while in custody, and giving birth alone–those are some of the allegations former female inmates from the Alameda County Jail system filed in a lawsuit against the sheriff on Thursday.

The attorney representing the women who filed the complaint tells KRON4 it is not safe for a woman to be pregnant and in custody in Alameda County.

The sheriff’s office denied the allegations, calling them untrue and hurtful.

The complaint comes from six former and current inmates from the Santa Rita Jail. It claims pregnant inmates were made to agree to abortions.

The lawsuit also claims the women did not get proper nutrition or clothing, and some suffered miscarriages while in custody.

“And it seems to me that whenever a woman complains of mistreatment, she is the liar, and I am sorry, but that just does not ring true to me,” attorney Yolanda Huang said.

Huang tells KRON4 the Alameda County Jail is not a safe place for a pregnant woman.

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, which provides guards at the jail, claimed it had not seen the complaint yet but wanted to address the accusations.

“We could not disagree more with the allegations that were made,” Alameda County Sheriff Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

The lawsuit details one pregnant inmate’s experience, where she claims she was in pain and was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland.

The sheriff’s office says there she was misdiagnosed with Braxton Hicks, or false labor.

The lawsuit writes that back at the jail, she was “forced to deliver her baby alone in solitary confinement.”

“They closed the slot to her door…and all the women in her pod could hear her because she was in labor and she was screaming,” Huang said.

Sgt. Kelly has a different opinion.

“That child was born healthy as far as we know, and there were no lasting effects from that incident but that did happen,” Sgt. Kelly said.

The sheriff’s office denies it makes inmates get abortions.

“We know that our people make mistakes sometimes…but they would never engage in egregious behavior or condoning abortion or telling people what they need to do with their lives,” Sgt. Kelly said.

The lawsuit, which asks for a temporary restraining order, calls the treatment of pregnant inmates barbaric and inhumane.

“That baby has never committed a crime,” Huang said. “That baby is the most innocent of innocence.”

In the past 24 hours, the Santa Rita Jail had 207 female inmates, five of them were pregnant.

The lawsuit wants to see an overhaul of changes to how pregnant women in the jail system are treated.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON: 

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