A Call to Action on Behalf of Incarcerated Womxn
Posted on April 2, 2023 by nevercrossapicketline in Uncategorized (Conscious Prisoner, 4/2/23)
by Tanya Smith
My name is Tanya Smith and I’m originally from Lancaster, VA. I have been incarcerated at Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center for 16 years. Fluvanna has let me down. My stage II colon cancer has metastasized to stage IV liver cancer. If it wasn’t for doctors at the University of Virginia (UVA), I’d be dead.
Earlier this year, I wrote to numerous representatives about the Second Look bill being introduced in VA, which would allow for prisoners to petition for resentencing. I received a response from the Lieutenant Governor who said that she would forward what I wrote to the Governor of VA. Two weeks later, the Governor sent a medical release form for me to sign to release medical records to his office for a medical pardon. My doctor, Dr. Paul Kunk, with UVA Department of Oncology, has submitted two letters, supporting the medical pardon, and nothing has happened.
Dr. Targonsky, the head of medical with VA Department of Corrections (VADOC), has denied my medical pardon two times. He has refused to provide me with an MRI and told me that my cancer diagnoses are related to COVID-19 (which I contracted in 2020 from Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center, and the effects only compounded my existing health concerns), neglecting proper treatment and outside guidance from physicians. He also has ordered medications for me to take without my consent and denied necessary prescriptions. If I wasn’t paying attention to what medical staff are giving me, my health might be far worse.
We have chronic conditions, and it hinders many of us. I have a walker, a wheelchair, and a cane. The doctor is telling me I can go upstairs, but how is that supposed to happen? I get shots in my body on a regular basis. The chemotherapy I receive for cancer deteriorates my bones. I am now fighting to keep a bottom bunk. I have to go to Dr. Stich, a medical doctor within VADOC, every four weeks in order to maintain a bottom bunk at Fluvanna. When I visit him, it’s unknown if I will actually be seen in enough time to get the approval.
I have refused going to the infirmary, because if I was kept there, I would have died. There are one or two nurses that are decent, but others are just there for a paycheck. You can push the button all day long and no one will answer. A lot of deaths happen, and DOC continues to put in the charts whatever they want to.
70% of women who are incarcerated have mental health needs. 79.5% of people incarcerated in women’s prisons report having at least one disability. Incarceration worsens our health. Someone recently died in Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center. She had asked for help multiple times and was ignored. Do you know how many have been killed in prisons in ways that could have been prevented? The DOC puts down what they want to because they operate on a paper system.
I am hoping that the VA governor will see and hear this story and will look into the medical neglect and abuse at Fluvanna. We need clemency for people incarcerated in women’s prisons. I hope others will read this and join the fight for our freedom. We need a voice.