Why Lindsay Clancy, on trial for the deaths of her 3 children, has so many supporters
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Clancy → have → supporters
Jurors began deliberations Thursday in case where defence blames postpartum psychosis
WARNING: This article contains details about violence against children and suicide.
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article → begin → children
Outside the Massachusetts courtroom where Lindsay Clancy is on trial in connection with the deaths of her three children — she doesn't deny that she killed them, but jurors must decide if she's criminally responsible — Clancy's supporters have gathered again.
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supporters → deny → them
On Thursday, ahead of the closing arguments, they were again dressed in pink.
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they → close → pink
And just like during their previous gatherings and in the discourse happening online, a similar message emerged: new moms need help, and they aren't getting it.
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they → happen → it
"As a physician myself, I’ve been on both sides of this coin when women are dismissed for our concerns, and it’s not fair," supporter Marta Quijano told The Associated Press outside the Plymouth County Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Thursday.
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Quijano → dismiss → Plymouth
"I don’t think people really understand unless they’ve been through it," said Danielle Buckley, who drove five hours from Maine to watch the closing arguments.
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who → think → arguments
"They just want to see her be punished for what happened to her children.
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what → want → children
Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three children in 2023 while her then-husband was running an errand.
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husband → accuse → errand
Jurors have heard that Clancy strangled Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and eight-month-old Callan with exercise bands in the basement of their home in the Boston suburb of Duxbury.
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Clancy → hear → Duxbury
She then attempted to take her own life by jumping out of a second-floor window, which left her paralyzed.
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which → attempt → her
Clancy's defence doesn't dispute the killings.
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defence → dispute → killings
But they argue she isn't criminally responsible because she had bipolar disorder and was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare and little-understood mental health condition that can affect a new mom's sense of reality.
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that → argue → reality
Prosecutors argue Clancy is guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, because she plotted to get her husband out of the house so she could carry out the killings.
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she → argue → killings
On Thursday, after lawyers finished their closing arguments in the month-long trial, jurors started their deliberations.
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jurors → finish → deliberations
If convicted, Clancy faces life in prison without parole.
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Clancy → convict → parole
If she's found not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility, or by reason of insanity, she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital.
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she → find → hospital
I am Lindsay Clancy'
Court heard that Clancy suffered from hallucinations and delusions that started after her third child was born.
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child → hear → hallucinations
On the day of the killings, Clancy said she heard a voice telling her, "This is your last chance.
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This → say → her
Kill the children so you can kill yourself," according to her lawyer during opening arguments.
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you → kill → arguments
On social media, people have been sharing their own experiences with trying to get mental health support after childbirth.
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people → share → childbirth
Some have posted statements like, "I am Lindsay Clancy."
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I → post → statements
Others have posted photos of themselves during times of struggle along with the words, "same, Lindsay."
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Others → post → words
"No matter what we say, nothing useful happens.
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nothing → say → what
Many of us lie, fearful of having our kids taken.
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kids → lie → us
Those of us who tell the truth are usually met with some combination of stigma, dismissal, and blame — rarely any meaningful support," Zawn Villines wrote on Substack Thursday.
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Villines → tell → Substack
Testimony concludes in trial of U.S. mother accused of killing her 3 children
"This Lindsay Clancy trial has hit me so viscerally, and it’s so close to home," Liz Cadeaux said in a tearful TikTok video where she urged other moms having a hard time to seek help.
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she → conclude → help
Conversely, there's also been backlash against the social media campaigns, and opinion pieces and columns that question how so many mothers can possibly sympathize with a woman who killed her children.
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who → be → children
Dr. Crystal Clark, the head of psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, says she thinks people are resonating with the trial, but not because they identify with Clancy's final actions.
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they → say → actions
"They resonate with the suffering, the help-seeking, the distress and despair she was experiencing prior to that, that they recognize in themselves," Clark, also the Canada Research Chair in reproductive mental health, told CBC News.
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Clark → resonate → News
Because of the overall increased awareness of mental conditions like postpartum depression, Clark says more people are able to identify and name what they have experienced.
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they → increase → what
And that can include not feeling heard.
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that → include → ?
"Not being heard is very scary."
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heard → hear → ?
More support needed: psychiatrist
Jurors have heard that Clancy was prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications across different providers, and her attorneys say Clancy did everything she could to seek help, including going to the emergency room, calling a suicide hotline and checking herself into a psychiatric hospital.
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she → need → hospital
The trial is triggering for many women, who have a long history of having their health and mental health concerns dismissed or misinterpreted, psychotherapist Kaytee Gillis recently wrote in Psychology Today.
"It touches something many women already know intimately: the feeling of asking for help and being unable to find it," Gillis wrote.
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Gillis → trigger → it
In Canada, postpartum depression and anxiety affect almost one-quarter of mothers who recently gave birth, according to 2019 Statistics Canada data.
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who → affect → data
Researchers estimate that the condition afflicts one to two women per 1,000 after delivery.
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condition → estimate → delivery
Clark, with Women’s College Hospital, says she doesn't believe new moms are getting enough support during what can be a very vulnerable and scary time.
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what → say → support
More needs to be done to identify when moms are suffering and need help, and to provide early intervention, she says.
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she → need → intervention
While the trial has raised awareness of postpartum psychosis, Clark says she's worried about increasing stigma.
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she → raise → stigma
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
