A lawsuit filed this week accuses Vermont’s child welfare agency of utilizing baseless allegations a couple of pregnant lady’s psychological well being to secretly examine her and win custody of her daughter earlier than the newborn’s delivery.
The ACLU of Vermont and Pregnancy Justice, a nationwide advocacy group, filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in opposition to the Vermont Department for Children and Families, a counseling heart and the hospital the place the lady gave delivery in February 2022.
In the lawsuit, the state additionally faces accusations that it routinely tracks pregnant girls deemed unsuitable to be moms.
The lawsuit asks for unspecified financial damages for the lady, who’s recognized solely by her initials, A.V., and an finish to what it describes as an unlawful surveillance program.
PREGNANT WOMAN AND BABY SAVED AFTER DOCTORS FIND GRAPEFRUIT-SIZED TUMOR: ‘EXTREMELY RARE’
A duplicate of the lawsuit seen in opposition to the the Vermont Department for Children and Families. (Google Maps; Vermont Superior Court)
The director of a homeless shelter the place A.V. stayed in January 2022 informed the kid welfare company that she appeared to have untreated paranoia, dissociative behaviors and PTSD, in response to the lawsuit. The state started investigating and ultimately spoke to the lady’s counselor, midwife and a hospital social employee with out her data, though it had no jurisdiction over fetuses.
The lady remained unaware of the probe till she gave delivery and her daughter was instantly taken away, in response to ACLU senior employees legal professional Harrison Stark.
A.V. had no data that hospital officers had been giving updates to the state while she was in labor, together with particulars of her cervix dilation, and that she had misplaced momentary custody of her child. The state even sought a courtroom order forcing the lady to endure a cesarean part, though it was rendered moot as a result of she agreed to the surgical procedure.
The lady was not in a position to win full custody of her little one till seven months later.
“It’s a horrific set of circumstances for our consumer,” Stark mentioned. “It’s additionally clear from what has occurred that this isn’t the primary time the company has achieved this. We have discovered from a number of confidential sources that DCF has a sample and apply of wanting into of us like our consumer who’re pregnant, who’re of curiosity to the company primarily based on a set of unofficial standards and who the company is monitoring on what is named a ‘excessive danger being pregnant docket’ or ‘excessive danger being pregnant calendar.'”
Department for Children and Families commissioner Chris Winter mentioned the company won’t remark till officers have reviewed the lawsuit and investigated its accusations.
“We take our mission of defending kids and supporting households significantly and work laborious to stability the protection and well-being of youngsters with the rights of oldsters,” he mentioned.
Officials at Lund counseling heart, which was named as a defendant, mentioned they discovered of the allegations from information studies.
The ACLU of Vermont and Pregnancy Justice filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in opposition to the Vermont Department for Children and Families, a counseling heart and the hospital the place the lady gave delivery. (Getty Images )
“We take these issues very significantly and we’re actively working to collect extra info to know the state of affairs absolutely,” interim CEO Ken Schatz mentioned.
Copley Hospital has not commented on the lawsuit.
Several states throughout the nation permit the civil dedication of pregnant girls to take custody of a new child, Pregnancy Justice senior employees legal professional Kulsoom Ijaz mentioned. However, it’s unclear how frequent these conditions are within the U.S.
Ijaz mentioned what occurred to A.V. reveals how being pregnant is more and more used as a justification to dam folks’s rights.
The group launched a report in September detailing a rise in girls being charged with pregnancy-related crimes within the yr after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, permitting states to make their very own legal guidelines concerning abortion. Most of these instances, wherein the newborn was listed because the sufferer, included girls charged with little one abuse, neglect or endangerment over allegations of substance use throughout being pregnant.
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This {photograph} reveals the emblem of the American Civil Liberties Union. (KAREN BLEIER/AFP by way of Getty Images)
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“What DCF did right here is extremely merciless,” Ijaz mentioned. “It’s discriminatory. Its state sanctioned surveillance and stalking, and it violates Vermont’s newly enshrined proper to reproductive autonomy in its state structure. This is a chance for Vermont to sign to different states, as a frontrunner, and say that these rights don’t simply exist on paper. They exist in apply, too.”
Stark mentioned the allegations in Vermont are significantly troubling because the state has described itself as a haven for reproductive rights.
“To uncover proof {that a} state company is basically colluding with sure medical suppliers to gather info with out of us’ data or consent and increasing its jurisdiction unlawfully to research of us primarily based on what are primarily selections about their very own reproductive well being is extremely alarming,” he mentioned.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
