I read the interview you linked. You know, I gotta say, I normally think Rush Limbaugh is the biggest jackass that ever walked the face of the Earth, but his pragmatism regarding your case (at least what I could gather from what he said in the interview with your lawyer) is remarkable. I’m really glad you have clear support from both sides (because I’m about as liberal/libertarian as they come). It is truly a miscarriage of justice what the state of Nebraska did to you.

I am not a resident of the state of Nebraska, Mary, so I’m not sure if my complaints will be taken seriously, but I will make an effort to write an email to the above-mentioned representatives on your behalf.

I really hope this can be resolved for the good of the people.

For those who are interested-here is our lawyer’s website. There are several pages, pictures, interviews with Rush Limbaugh and Scott Voorhees and numerous newspaper articles.

http://www.nebraskainjurylawreport.com/category/constitutional-rights/

I hope some of you will e-mail the state senators.

MamaBear’s last paragraph in her original blog post seems so rational to me, why is it that people in power don’t seem to be able to make sensible decisions like this?

Here in the UK I have been horrified to read of cases of children being taken into care due to suspected child abuse, but then not released to their real parents when the cases were shown to be unsubstantiated - in fact, the real parents are not only denied any contact with their children but not even allowed to refer to their children by name but have to speak of them as ‘Child A’ etc., In most cases the foster parents or adoptive parents probably believe they are doing the right thing.

here is one example:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=414384&in_page_id=1770

And now we have a woman who is told that her unborn baby will be taken away from her as soon as she gives birth. The reason? She called social services because of an incident with her ex-boyfriend, drawing herself to their attention because she was frightened of what he might do. And after she was raped as a teenager, she suffered from severe depression and was self-harming. Now they claim she has ‘Munchausens by proxy’, a syndrome which is greatly disputed between medics and has largely been discredited.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/26/nbaby126.xml

www.wardrobehudson.co.uk/askingforachance/Home.htm

You can bet they won’t get a wetnurse for the baby!

It is all so worrying. I really hope the state stops bothering you like this, Mary Anaya.

Sam

I’m so, so sorry for what your family has been put through. Nobody should have to endure that; what the State of Nebraska did is unconscionable.

And no, I don’t really trust the media to report things accurately. Too often I’ve found (after investigating things for myself, like with the International Breast Milk Project), that the media gets really important details DEAD WRONG.

I was relieved to hear you finally got your precious baby boy back, and I hope that if you are blessed with any more children in the future, that you don’t get harassed this way again.

Facts:
Oldest 2 children- not born in Nebraska. Oldest now 20-he went to college at 14, graduated at 17 with 2 degrees-youngest graduate ever of that University. 2nd oldest 17, sophomore at same university on the dean’s list.

Next 5 children-homebirthed in Nebraska. Received certified letters telling us to take children in for screening.

Checked into the law and found no enforcement provision.
Informed by others who had refused that we would be ignored or fined for non-compliance. We were ignored all five times.

Our 8th child, 6th born in Nebraska was Rosa. When she was 2 months old we received a subpoena to District Court. That had been added to the enforcement provision of the statute. We found a lawyer and fought it. That lawyer wanted us to fight it based on the First Amendment free exercise of religion. The case was only heard by the local district court judge who understood nothing about the case and the Nebraska Supreme Court. The Nebraska Supreme Court stole the case from the appeals court and the US Supreme Court did not hear the case.

Our 9th child, Justus, was born 2 years ago in Iowa to avoid the situation.

For 2 legislative sessions, State Senator Synowiecki has proposed exemption legislation. The 2nd time we had high hopes. We had more people testifying in favor of the bill than against, signed testimonies of the trauma the screening had caused other parents, and a petition signed by over 100 people. There were only a couple of testimonies from the state against the bill. However, it was killed in the health and human services committee and never made it to the floor for a vote.

Here are e-mails for the committee:

perdman@leg.ne.gov;
jjohnson@leg.ne.gov;
astuthman@leg.ne.gov;
tgay@leg.ne.gov;
dpankonin@leg.ne.gov
ghoward@leg.ne.gov;
thansen@leg.ne.gov;

Due to various reasons, Joel ended up being born in Nebraska. Believe me, if I had any idea this would have happened, I would have made more of an effort to have him in Iowa.

Joel was born on September 2. We immediately found a lawyer. On September 19th we received a certified letter telling us about the screening law and giving us until September 21st to test. Then, we received a phone call from Newborn Screening asking if we would test. We replied “no”. She asked if I knew what would happen next. I replied “yes” understanding that we would be subpoenaed into district court as stated in the statute.

Weeks went by without hearing anything. Then, on the morning of October 11th just after I had gotten Joel up from his morning nap, my doorbell rang. When I answered the door, an armed sheriff’s deputy came barging into my house yelling that he had a court order for Joel Anaya. I was screaming that I had not given him permission to enter my home. He said that he had a court order. I said that I wanted to call my lawyer. He said, “There’s no time.” There were 2 other deputies with guns and clubs guarding my doorways. He heard my children downstairs and ran downstairs where all my young children were. He snatched Joel out of my son’s arms and headed for the door. Joel was fussing and I knew he hadn’t eaten in 3 hours. I begged to be allowed to nurse him. The deputy told me, “There is no time. He will be cared for by professionals.” He ran out the door with my baby leaving me begging to nurse my baby and yelling for my son to call the lawyer. It was a cold day and the CPS people were not there yet to hand the baby over to, so the weather forced him back inside. I was crying and pleading to nurse.

My husband came home from the store just then. The sheriff deputies blocked him from entering our home.

I do not have time to elaborate further, but I do want to mention that the social workers invited me along, were quite compassionate, and allowed me to nurse on demand the first day and a half until the juvenile court judge got all bent out of shape about my frequent nursing.

Hall of Justice
1701 Farnam Street, 6th Floor
Attn: Honorable Elizabeth G. Crnkovich
Omaha, NE 68183
(402) 444-7121

My entire family has been needlessly traumatized. I can not begin to tell you about all the ripple effects. For the sake of future generations, please help us to fight this
horrible injustice.

There are other awful things such as the terrifying court order that I don’t have time to address now. Our case is dismissed, but we are appealing.

After 5 and a half awful days, we have Joel back. Praise God.

However, we have been denied due process. The affidavit to obtain custody falsely claimed Joel was in “immediate danger” and that “every reasonable effort to prevent removal” had been made. No one had even hinted to us that the state could take custody if we refused the test.

I am afraid we have been the frog in the pan. The heat is applied gradually until
we find ourselves boiling. Our rights are in serious trouble. Please pray and contact
people in this post.

Unfortunately those ARE our only options. Glad you spelled them out, because that’s what’s left to us. Funny that before a person even gives birth, most of us are not aware of metabolic testing at all (for the most part), but in the hospital, if you say, “What are you doing to my child?” they act like it’s not your child at all and tell you, “It’s required by law that we do blah blah blah…” How are you as a new parent supposed to know THOSE laws??? Or even know that you’re supposed to know, before you have a kid? Nobody tells you beforehand! You almost have to already be a health professional in order to know… It’s almost like we’re kept ignorant of important things like this, but then at the moment when we’re most vulnerable, the law steps right in and says, “You must do this or you’ll be in violation of The Law.” WTF?

And Heaven help us if we actually QUESTION The Law, once we’re finally informed about what it IS… They have been so used to being in control that anyone who has the temerity to say, “No, thanks,” is shot down with such overkill that it’s no wonder everyone is so apathetic about fighting for their rights anymore! People are afraid to have opinions ’cause they’re not sure what they’re “supposed” to be thinking! LOL!

Thanks for commenting. I’ve been meaning to get that off my chest.

I guess this is a reminder to parents who have somewhat “alternative” ideas about childrearing and medical interventions. Legally ignorance of the law is no excuse, so we need to research the laws in our jurisdiction. Then it’s our choice to follow the status quo, work with our lawmakers to change the law or provide exemptions, or relocate to a state or county that is more tolerant of religious and philosophical freedom.

Good question.