Louisville police issue citation to homeless woman in labor

Police in Louisville released body camera footage from an incident involving a homeless pregnant woman on Sept. 27. In the video, an officer approaches the woman under an overpass, asking if she is in labor and needs an ambulance.

“You said you’re in labor?” the officer asks.

“I’m leaking water,” the woman replies. “I’m leaking water, all the embryonic fluid, I’m leaking out.”

The woman picks up her belongings and begins walking away when the officer begins to detain her.

Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.

Point phone camera here

“Stop,” the officer commands.

“I’m being detained?” the woman asks.

“Yes, you’re being detained,” the officer responds.

“For what?” the woman asks.

“Because you’re unlawfully camping,” the officer says.

The woman tells the officer she is going to look for her husband. However, the officer instructs her to stay off the street and wait for emergency medical services.

“But you don’t have to holler and you don’t have to push me,” the woman yells at the officer. “I haven’t done anything to you! Okay? Okay, I understand that. I don’t have a home!”

The officer then returns to his vehicle and writes the woman a citation for unlawful street camping.

Kentucky’s new state law, the Safer Kentucky Act, prohibits sleeping or setting up camp on sidewalks or public property.

“I’m issuing you a citation for unlawful camping, okay?” the officer tells the woman as he hands her the citation. “You can’t camp out or sleep on sidewalks, underpasses or bridges. We’ve warned you about this before.”

The citation has drawn heavy criticism from those who advocate for homeless populations.

The Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization, called the officer’s actions “appalling” in a Facebook post.

“It is horrific that a woman in active labor was cited for unlawful camping. Our city should protect people with medical needs, not create harm,” the post reads. “Ask city leaders to do everything they can to create health protections for unhoused people who are pregnant or have other urgent health needs.”

Louisville Metro Police released a statement in response, saying, in part: “We take any situation involving vulnerable individuals, including those experiencing a medical emergency, very seriously. No one wants to see a pregnant woman living in such deplorable conditions.

“On two previous occasions, members of the Safe and Healthy Streets Initiative offered the woman resources for shelter, which she had declined. Without the officer’s intervention and call for EMS, it is possible the baby would have been born without medical care. We hope she and her baby are able to receive the care and resources they need going forward.”

In the body cam footage, an ambulance eventually arrives and transports the woman to the hospital, where she delivered her baby.