Defense argues postpartum psychosis should relieve Clancy of criminal responsibility
Hundreds of Lindsay Clancy supporters, many wearing pink, gathered Thursday outside the Plymouth, Massachusetts courthouse where she is on trial in the killings of her three children, the Associated Press reported. The rally came during a livestreamed trial that has drawn attention to postpartum psychosis and to how the U.S. mental health system treats women.
Several of the roughly 300 women at the gathering, along with a few men, told the AP that Clancy’s story resonated with them and that they wanted to raise awareness about how the mental health system treats women. The supporters wore pink throughout Thursday’s proceedings.
Clancy’s attorney does not dispute that she killed the children, the AP reported, but says she should not be held criminally responsible because she was mentally ill at the time. Postpartum psychosis — a rare mental illness Clancy’s attorney says she had — is linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth, according to the AP.
The trial is being livestreamed, the AP reported, an arrangement that has brought attention to postpartum psychosis.
After strangling her children, Clancy jumped from a second-story window and remains paralyzed from the waist down, according to the AP.
The AP included an editor’s note with its story indicating that the coverage includes discussion of suicide. Readers in the U.S. seeking help can reach the national suicide and crisis lifeline by calling or texting 988.