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Powered by LifeTypeJudy was finally released tonight, yay!
Prayer requests:
Praise for Judy, God is amazing, and I continually hear reports of her faith, God's grace and strength in her life.
For our family, particularly patience and peace-filled thoughts
For the "Friends of Judy", in their fund-raising efforts
Judy is still in jail, held over the weekend for a variety of delays and other "mistakes" such as:
She is due to be released tomorrow on $10,000 bail, (since she is such a violent criminal), but since she was also supposed to be released Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so we will see how it goes.
Nothing much else new, the media covered it all over the country, but they didn't have very much new to print, so it didn't last long. In some cases, they just cut and pasted from previous articles sometimes with even the same headline. Not very exciting news.
Almost all of the stories quoted Cyril Wecht, the coroner, saying, "women in labor can't think rationally", and that gets lots of people upset, including those who couldn't care less about midwives, so I imagine there will be a bunch of letters to the editor this week.
Found a quote by Wecht today, which one would think if he believes as strongly as he sounds, he wouldn't have made the sensational statements during the inquest.
Forensic pathologists functioning as coroners and medical examiners should remember that they are not an integral part of the prosecutor's team, and they should not consciously or unwittingly use language that is clearly designed to inflame and prejudice a jury. Forensic pathologists must constantly strive to be objective, rational, fair, and even-handed in expressing their conclusions and opinions in trial testimony and all other formal legal proceedings.
Source: Shaken baby syndrome research paper
Prayer requests:
For Judy, it can't be much fun to be in jail all weekend, and not be able to see visitors
For our family, particularly patience and peace-filled thoughts
For the "Friends of Judy", in their fund-raising efforts
Well, I guess I spoke too soon last week. Search and arrest warrants were filed today for Judy. Apparently, they took her files and computers and stuff, and expect her to turn herself in tomorrow.
Her lawyer has asked for a $10,000 deposit (I forget what the lawyer word for that is), so I assume she will have a hard time coming up with that, or at least definitely will have trouble coming up with money later. (I know what she makes... or at least what she charges per birth)
The charges are Involuntary Manslaughter, Endangering the welfare of a minor and unauthorized practice of midwifery.
It is interesting that they are now saying "unauthorized practice of midwifery", because it was stated quite clearly during the inquest, that that was not the issue, that the DA and coroner's office understood that PA law did not make any mention of non-nurse midwives, so wouldn't be going in that direction.
Maybe they just bring up a bunch of charges, and hope that one will stick??
Prayer requests:
For Judy, particularly if she spends time in jail tomorrow, I haven't heard about bail.
For the lawyers and judges involved, for correct discernment of the laws and the truth.
For our family
Hi all. Thanks for continuing to pray for us, and for letting us know that you haven't forgotten all this stuff.
Unfortunately, I am still adding to this web page in 2004, who would have thought?
I don't think I have written previously that the case has switched attorneys, sometime towards the end of last year. I have heard through the proverbial grapevine that she had found the FoJ web page and had some questions regarding some of the statements on it.
Apparently Steve backed up his own quotes, but wouldn't speak as to the accuracy of the rest, which makes sense to me.
But, anyway, it means that the DA's office is still thinking about things. It is crazy to think that stuff can be going on this long, and they are actively working on it. As my mother would say, "Your tax dollars at work".
Prayer requests:
That we wouldn't think about this stuff, for the most part, that we can't do anything about it anyway, and so just wait, instead of worrying.
For our five(!) month old baby (Jonathan) and our care of him.
Apparently, the way the legal system works in Pittsburgh is that the media finds out things first. KDKA called Judy's attorney today asking that since the district attorney will be making his decision shortly, whether Steve and Judy would like an interview.
It seems strange to me that the district attorney will talk to the media, but not to us. Oh well. I guess that is how this political system works -- he needs to keep the media happy and on his side for the benefit of his political career, which of course is the important thing in all this.
Prayer requests:
Continued prayers for us to trust God's guidance in our lives, and for our faith as we seek Him.
For legal decisions, both by the district attorney and the Friends of Judy as they try to figure out what is the best course of action.
For our new baby (Jonathan) and our care of him.
Who would have thought this would still be going on after a year? I just found out that the district attorney called up Judy's collaborative physician today to ask some questions.
Apparently, the district attorney was waiting to be re-elected before continuing this. Or perhaps, he was just too busy with election stuff -- I think he was running un-opposed, so I don't know about all the conspiracy theory stuff.
Anyway, the investigation is still going on. The doctor in question was not involved in the care of Isaac, and the district attorney already knew that, so it was probably as the doctor said, "a fishing trip".
We expect Isaac's younger sibling shortly(!), our midwife guesses about a week more. Heather is 3 cm dialated as of this morning. As one midwife said of the current situation of this new baby and Heather, they are, "made in the shade", meaning we couldn't ask for anything to be better.
Prayer requests:
Continued prayers for us to trust God's guidance in our lives, and for our faith as we seek Him.
For legal decisions, both by the district attorney and the Friends of Judy as they try to figure out what is the best course of action.
For our new baby, and soon-to-be parents... even after having all this time to prepare for it, I still am not sure if I am prepared to be a good father to this dependent child.
I had a revelation today. While we felt very supported back in November, we have recently been more feeling on our own. Certainly, people want to care for us, and probably don't know how to do that. But, I think the bigger issue is that most people we know do not agree with our decisions about how the birth of our first (and second) child happened/will happen. So, that makes it hard for people to know how to talk with us, and they are, as Heather said, "holding their breath until this baby is born, then things will be more relaxed." There is petition circulating around Pittsburgh and elsewhere regarding our case in particular, but in a larger sense, who is responsible for making medical decisions. The petition will be delivered early next week, in hopes of affecting the district attorney's decision for this case. I was going to send it to people, but I am not sure who to send it to, as I think lots of our friends think that the doctor does always know best, and his opinion should outweigh your own in all cases. I think that is a pretty scary place to be, a place where the hospital is in charge and you have no say in what happens to you. Which is basically what is happening in this case. We signed an "informed consent" document, but apparently because doctors have people sign those forms all the time without really explaining things, "informed consent" no longer means anything legally.
As the coroner stated, "a woman in labor" (and apparently her husband by extension) "cannot make decisions rationally" and needs the care practioner to make all decisions for them. I guess that would lead to that all decisions are the medical practitioner's fault. Thus, know we know why the doctors are scared about the malpractice suits, since they have brought upon themselves this conundrum: they know everything, and don't allow patients to take responsibility for any decisions, but yet, the doctors don't want the responsibility either.
So, we are left with the problem, the state can sue whoever they want, parents or provider because everyone is shirking their responsibility to be accountable for their decisions.
If you don't think parents should be able to make decisions regarding their own care, you should think about what the alternative is.
Prayer requests:
Continued prayers for us to trust God's guidance in our lives, and for our faith as we seek Him.
Praise and thanks for the group of families in Pittsburgh who are uniting in support of us and Judy
For legal decisions, both by the district attorney and the Friends of Judy as they try to figure out what is the best course of action.
That we would be able to understand our friends, and that our friends would be able to understand us
Our lawyer talked with the district attorney at some point after the inquest finished to encourage him to end this whole legal ordeal, and to (re)emphasize that we are not in favor of this. It sounded as if he didn't really care a whole lot what we think. The estimate is that he will take 4 to 6 weeks to decide what to do. So, in LST (Legal Standard Time) that probably means 8 to 12 weeks.
I will let you know when we hear something.
Prayer requests:
Continued prayers for us to trust God's guidance in our lives, and for our faith as we seek Him.