PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Hundreds of Lindsay Clancy supporters, many wearing pink, gathered Thursday outside the courthouse where she is on trial in the killings of her three children.
Several of the 300 women, and a few men, said Clancy’s story resonated with them and that they wanted to raise awareness about how the mental health system treats women. Clancy’s lawyer does not dispute that she killed the children, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill.
The livestreamed trial has brought attention to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness Clancy’s attorney says she had that is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. After strangling her children, Clancy jumped from a second-story window and remains paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors say the former labor and delivery nurse planned the Jan. 24, 2023, killings and contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to pick up medicine for one of their children and dinner for the family. They have also questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
Thursday’s rally was the first time during the nearly monthlong trial that supporters have come out in such large numbers.
“Women are being dismissed, neglected and ignored when we speak up,” said April Vincent, a 52-year-old paralegal from Providence, Rhode Island. “We’re scared because nobody takes us seriously. Nobody wants to hear us and really we just need to be heard. I’ve been dismissed plenty of times.”
The women, some wearing shirts with messages including “Peace For Lindsay” and “Justice For Lindsay,” stood silently for more than an hour ahead of Thursday’s proceedings. They broke into applause at the sight of Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington.
Toward the end of their rally, supporters formed a circle, said the Lord’s Prayer, held up their arms and formed hearts with their hands. Some held flags from different countries to show the support for Clancy was global.
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged from 8 months to 5 years old. Researchers estimate that postpartum psychosis — which is more serious and less common than postpartum depression — afflicts 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery.
Jeanne Zaborski, a 72-year-old retired nurse from Rockland, Massachusetts, said she hopes the cases raise awareness about postpartum health. She and many others at the rally said they had been following the trial almost daily.
“It’s very sad,” Zaborski said. “I am a mother. I am a grandmother. I have a sister who had problems after birth and it’s just very sad. I hope Lindsay gets the care she needs and deserves and other women will come together like we did today.”
Rally organizer Renee Kimball implored the crowd to trust that Reddington “has Lindsay’s fight.”
“It’s important that we just be still, have a moment of silence and know that God is working through us for Lindsay and for the rest of the world that are going through similar things she is going through,” Kimball said.
Casey writes for the Associated Press.
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