An unusual lawsuit could soon be decided in a Florida appeals court after a petition was filed to have a woman inmate's unborn baby released from detention, marking a case that could serve as a legal precedent as courts attempt to navigate life after Roe v. Wade .

The emergency petition was filed last week on behalf of the unborn child of Natalia Harrell, 24, who was arrested in July on second-degree murder charges tied to allegations that she shot a mother of three children. The petition alleges Harrell's unborn child, which has spent nearly eight months in the womb, has not received proper prenatal treatment while the mother is being held without bond.

“UNBORN CHILD has not been charged with any crime by the State,” the writ of habeas corpus filed by attorney William Norris said. ”Further, the State has placed the UNBORN CHILD in such inherently dangerous environment by placing the UNBORN CHILD in close proximity to violent criminal offenders.”

PERSONHOOD RIGHTS APPLY TO FETUSES UNDER MASSACHUSETTS HOMICIDE LAW: TOP COURT

The 24-page legal document obtained by the Miami Herald claimed the "draconian confinement" is harming Harrell's unborn child, citing allegations such as Harrell being hauled in a corrections transport van without air conditioning as temperatures exceeded 100 degrees.

The petition furthers that the unborn child should be freed from "unlawful and illegal detention" to keep it from entering the world in a dangerous environment. Harrell is currently residing in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Miami-Dade Corrections officials released a statement on the petitioner's claims on Monday, saying they would conduct a "full review" of the health services offered to inmates across Florida's detention facilities.

"Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation partners with Jackson Health System to provide healthcare to the inmates in our custody, and we are committed to ensuring all inmates receive professional, timely medical care and all appropriate treatment," the statement reads. "We are conducting a full review of the health services offered and received to ensure that all pre-natal care being provided in our custody is appropriate."

The unusual petition filed in Florida court is one of many "personhood" questions that have been raised in court both before and after the Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last summer and allow states to impose laws severely limiting or restricting abortion.

In a separate dispute arising out of Texas, a pregnant woman successfully challenged a ticket for driving in the high-occupancy lane by herself last August. A bill to allow pregnant women to use such lanes in Virginia is pending in the state House's transportation subcommittee.

More recently, a top court in Massachusetts found earlier this month that personhood rights extend to a fetus when it is killed as a result of the homicide of a pregnant woman. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made its decision by relying on a 1984 precedent that found a viable fetus is a person in the context of vehicular homicide.

The Supreme Court has been reluctant to address the issue of personhood with appeals to the highest court. In October last year, a petition for a case that sought to answer whether fetuses are entitled to constitutional rights failed to garner four justices, or the necessary number of votes, in order to approve the case for consideration.