Yvette Harrell was six weeks pregnant when she fatally shot another woman.

Now in prison awaiting trial, she claims her unborn baby is being unlawfully detained.

In an emergency petition in a Florida court, Ms Harrell’s lawyer argued that jail staff have endangered the child through “a lack of reasonable and necessary prenatal care”.

The argument draws on the concept that a foetus is a person with rights.

The idea that an unborn child is a person with constitutional protections has gained traction since the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to