Her take is dead on
14Mar2004 Filed under: Shelter Author: DawnBody and Soul has something to say about the woman in Utah who is charged with murder since one of her twins was stillborn and she apparently refused to get a c-section.
A frightened, mentally ill, pregnant woman, living on Social Security disability benefits, facing eviction, the father of her children gone, went from hospital to hospital looking for help, and no one knew what to do for her or how to reach her. And because of that, she has been in jail for nearly two months and faces murder charges
I can think of several mentally ill pregnant women at shelter who were not getting the treatment that they needed in order to care for their bodies and their babies. It’s interesting (and disturbing) that the media is painting this as a case of vanity — saying that she felt the surgery was too disfiguring to get — and not recognizing that there was clearly something else going on.
There’s a lot to talk about in this case but before we get too far into that discussion, I think we need to talk about how we are not serving America’s mentally ill population.
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About Me
I have two kids and a delightfully odd husband, Brett. My children are Noah (born to us in 1997) and Madison (born to her first mom, Pennie, in 2004 and brought to our family through a domestic, open adoption). They are my inspiration and also the reason I don't get more done around here.
I'm a writer and sometimes I get published, which is a nice thing. I write for joy, I write for money and when I'm very lucky, both things happen at the same time. My work appears in national publications including Yoga Journal, Disney's Family.com, Utne, Wondertime, Brain Child and Salon. Currently I am working on a book about my daughter's adoption and seeking representation for the proposal. I also own Smart Cookie Communications with my husband.
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-d
March 14th, 2004 at 9:19 pm
I agree!!
A friend’s 20 year old son is hearing voices that are telling him to steal money from banks.
Because he has no insurance, they hospitalized him one night. In the morning, he was not hearing voices… they released him.
Anyone shocked to hear that the voices returned by the next morning?
There has to be a way to help this boy and yet, we’ve wondered the non-profit areas and there does not seem to be any other steps to be able to follow. The hospital will only keep him if he is a threat to the community or himself. As soon as he is “not a threat” he is released immediately.
-d
Jonathan
March 14th, 2004 at 9:51 pm
It’s a shame what happened to the baby. But she has a right to undergo surgery or to refuse it, imho.
Meagan
March 15th, 2004 at 12:13 am
Jonathan, I totally agree.
Angie
March 15th, 2004 at 5:04 am
I totally agree Dawn! That was the first thing I thought once I heard that the woman was mentally unwell, that she’d fallen through the cracks, hadn’t been treated and was now being held accountable for what she did (or didn’t do). I’m sure that the mental health services will not be held accountable for their part to play in this tragedy.
eli
March 15th, 2004 at 7:33 am
i agree. Has America EVER taken good/well care for the mentally ill? Out of curiosity - do other countries do better at it - is there a good example of good mental patient care?
brave
March 15th, 2004 at 8:33 am
At least there used to be mental institutions/facilities that could provide shelter and drugs. They weren’t the greatest, of course, but at least folks with mental illness didn’t have to live on the streets, etc. Thanks to Pres. Reagan, the institutions were closed and mentally ill were left to the streets and local services to pick up the “slack.”
Liz O
March 15th, 2004 at 9:49 am
I love Body and Soul - always makes me think. It never ceases to amaze me how quick many people are to dismiss mental illness, and how little society does to try to understand it. I’ve seen a lot of vitriol directed at this woman on various parenting sites, and so few seem to care about or consider what led her to make the decisions she allegedly made
shannon
March 15th, 2004 at 11:27 am
This whole thing reminds me of the highly-touted “sneaker crimes” in the eighties, when the media started making fabulous claims about the violence of Black teenagers killing each other for shoes. My partner studies this stuff and has yet to find proof that any such thing ever truly happened (killing for shoes–cut and dried).
Yet another way to villianize the poor and blame the oppressed for their own misery.
Seems appropriate this attitude should resurface now, during the Bedtime for Bonzo remake that is the Bush administration.
Shamhat
March 15th, 2004 at 12:26 pm
I haven’t been able to read comments reliably on the blogs that have the trackback link (Body and Soul, Chez Miscarriage, A Little Pregnant, among others–is that Moveable Type?) for days. There was a brief moment on Saturday when they all worked, and then they were all gone again. This bothers me more than it probably should. I’ve even tried using other browsers and ICQ’ing people who are completely uninterested in the topics discussed on those blogs, just to ask if they can read the comments.
Which reminds me, anyone who is expecting a baby in the near future should consider adding an RSS feed.
Jo
March 15th, 2004 at 8:50 pm
Thanks for posting that, Dawn. It’s too easy to just buy the media’s portrait of the situation — saves us from having to think about all the difficult issues underlying this horrible situation.
Moxie
March 15th, 2004 at 10:28 pm
What I think is a huge issue here is that there’s no guarantee that a C-section would have saved the baby.
MommaJo
March 18th, 2004 at 11:35 pm
Bottom line in this issue, mental Illness or no, Rue VS Wade protects this woman’s right to not have the c-section. No one HAS to have surgery, (Roe VS Wade doesn’t cover that lol) the Docs screwed up here by not getting this woman the help she needs. Now I don’t believe in abortion, BUT our laws make it legal. So charging a woman with homicide over a stillborn baby (fetus) is wrong. Are they going to charge every woman seeking abortion??? Every woman who miscarries, I’ve had 2 miscarriages, am I next in line to be charged??? This country needs to decide on what they wannt and stick to it. They can’t have it both ways.