What This Homeless Woman Taught Me About Life Today

It was the day before Christmas Eve, and as I drove to a city where I was to meet my sons for lunch, it was hard to find a parking spot, as so many people were out and about on the last shopping day before Christmas. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood in this upscale downtown area where I was meeting my sons for lunch. Many were dressed in their holiday best, and there were families everyone; children giddy with glee as they undoubtedly were looking forward to opening presents soon. Since I had to park quite far away from the restaurant where I was to meet my sons, I had a few blocks to walk. At one corner, a woman who was sitting down by herself and talking caught my eye for just a moment. She was on the other side of the street, so I did not get a close look at her. "Why is she talking when she is all alone?," I quickly thought, but I was late for lunch and I pushed the thought to the back of my mind thinking "she probably has an earbud on and is talking on the phone to someone." Later, as we were finishing up our lunch on a table that was outside in front of the restaurant (the restaurant was very busy, and the only table available was outdoors as it was quite cold out), a woman walked by that caught my eye. She was not neat - she was dirty, carrying a backpack, smoking a small stub of a cigarette that I guessed someone had discarded, and had multiple layers of clothing and jackets on, well worn and dirty. I later learned she was in her mid 40s, but she looked older than that. She noticed me looking at her, and said to me: "God bless you! Jesus has redeemed me, and God is the God of second chances." I replied: "Amen! He certainly is the God of second chances. God bless you too." We began a short conversation, and I was waiting for and expecting the imminent request for money - but it never came.

Oklahoma Mom Gives Legal Cannabis Oil to Epileptic Daughter to Stop Seizures – Now all 5 Children Medically Kidnapped

Advocacy for effective medical treatment of her epileptic daughter has led to the medical kidnapping of an Oklahoma homeschool mom's 5 children. When ordinary medical treatments failed to help her child, Tammy Searcy learned that cannabis oil might be able to help her daughter's life-threatening seizures. She was not willing to break any laws, so she worked to change laws in her state. Only after medical cannabis use became legal did she begin treatment for 14 year old Brianna, and the results were almost miraculous. Now, all 5 of Tammy's children have been seized by Child Protective Services, and many believe that this was retaliation for her activism. Her children have been separated and Tammy fears for their safety. Brianna's health has declined sharply, and social workers want to force-vaccinate her children.

Active Senior Medically Kidnapped from her Home and Forced onto Drugs in Nursing Home Now Near Death

Earlier this year, Beverley Finnegan, age 69, of Newton, Massachusetts, could walk, talk, and discuss the events from the daily newspaper. That was before she was seized from the condo that she shared with her sister. Police and "Elder Protective Services" social workers literally broke down her door to enter her residence, and then forced her into a nursing home, and drugged her against her will. Years before, she had named her sister as her medical proxy, but the state of Massachusetts has ignored her wishes and placed her under guardianship with strangers. Her whole life, everything she had ever known, was gone with the stroke of a judge's pen. Now, she is on life support, and on Monday, December 18, guardians and their attorneys petitioned the court in the attempt to have Beverley Finnegan euthanized. They go back to court on Friday, December 22. Janet Pidge is fighting for the very life of her beloved sister who is just one court decision away from having her life snuffed out forever.

56 Year Old Man Enters Hospital with Shoulder Pain – Dies 6 Weeks Later After Developing Infection in Hospital

The following is a true story that is, unfortunately, typical of the dangers in being admitted into hospitals today in the U.S. Carl was a fighter, a survivor. Nothing was handed to him in life. When he was 15, both his father and mother walked out on him and his younger brother, leaving Carl alone to raise his sibling. Somehow, the two of them managed to earn enough money to keep paying the mortgage and save the family home. Carl was a handyman, seemingly able to fix anything. He went on to become a master plumber. He was a tall man (over 6 feet tall), and always seemed to turn up anytime someone was in need and could benefit from his services. When Carl started experiencing shoulder pain in his rotator cuff, one of his friends eventually convinced him to go have it checked out. Carl was not one to visit doctors or seek medical care, and he would have rather endured the shoulder pain than ask for pain medication. But his friend was insistent, so for her sake he begrudgingly agreed to be taken to the hospital, as he had been lying in bed with pain for so many days, that now his hip was starting to bother him also. Tragically, after the hospital admitted him, he soon developed pneumonia, and a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. 6 weeks later he was dead. Carl's friends watched their friend who entered the hospital system due to chronic shoulder pain be tortured and killed by the hospital, and they were powerless to do anything about it.

Massachusetts State Auditor Finds Widespread Rape and Sexual Abuse in Foster Care but DCF Officials Won’t Report It

On December 7, 2017, Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump released an appalling audit of her state's Child Protective Services, the Department of Children and Families (DCF). The audit, which covered 2014 and 2015, found that there were many instances where children in state care, whether in foster homes or group homes or other facilities under DCF care, were abused physically or sexually, but DCF failed to report the incidents to the proper authorities. DCF officials told Auditor Suzanne Bump that they don't see sexual abuse as a serious enough problem that they need to report it.

18 Year Old Wrongly Convicted of Shaken Baby Syndrome Set Free After Serving 17 Years in Prison

Thanks to new scientific knowledge about Shaken Baby Syndrome, a man wrongfully convicted in 2002 of killing his 4-month-old daughter has had his conviction reversed after spending nearly 17 years in prison. The San Francisco law firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters and the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) at Santa Clara University School of Law brought forth the new evidence, which reflects updated knowledge about the causes of Shaken Baby Syndrome and the risk of parents improperly being charged with murder in cases of household accidents. The California Superior Court of Sacramento reversed Zavion Johnson’s murder conviction, which occurred when he was 18 years old. In what he has always claimed was a tragic accident, Johnson’s daughter, Nadia, slipped from his arms and fell in the bathtub while Johnson was bathing her. She later died from internal injuries. Despite 15 witnesses including Nadia’s mother, testifying that Johnson was a loving, caring father, medical experts at the time cited the then-medical consensus that the only possible explanation for Nadia’s injuries and death involved Shaken Baby Syndrome. Jurors called the medical evidence “overwhelming,” and sentenced him to life in prison, even though, as one juror recollected, they “felt that Zavion Johnson was a good young man, very loving to his girlfriend and their baby girl, and that it would seem horribly out of character for him to murder his baby.” The juror went on the say, “without that evidence, we certainly would not have convicted Zavion Johnson.” Using modern science, medical experts, including the original pathologist that testified at Johnson’s trial, have since reviewed the case. The experts agree that Nadia’s injuries are consistent with the fall originally described by Johnson 17 years ago and they can no longer say it was abuse.

Oregon CPS Kidnaps Child Because Parents are Legal Medical Marijuana Patients

An Oregon couple was blindsided when Child Protective Services seized baby Kaylynn, alleging Child Neglect because of their medical marijuana use. Oregon has issued permits for the medicinal use for marijuana since 1998 and legalized recreational use since 2014. The couple has complied with all state laws, and they don't understand how the same state can legalize something on one hand while on the other hand, they seize a child from her home for the very thing that the legislators and voters have said that they can do. This murky and confusing legal climate has left a mother devastated and her baby girl robbed of her family. No matter what one believes about the legalization, use, or ethics of marijuana, it is clear that families should not be torn apart over differing policies within the same state agencies.

Formerly Healthy Girl with Rare Genetic Disorder Dies After Being Medically Kidnapped in Georgia

Nyhariah Mack's battle to live has ended. She passed away Thursday afternoon, December 7, 2017. The little girl with a very rare chromosomal disorder was full of life when a doctor and hospital enlisted Georgia's Child Protective Services to seize her from her mother a year and a half ago. At the time, she had no issues, just a rare medical condition that made her tiny and delayed her development. Shortly after going into "protective" custody, her health rapidly declined. She was subjected to unnecessary, experimental surgeries. Many family, friends, and supporters believe that the doctors and hospital at Emory took her in order to experiment on her, since her condition was so rare - only a little over a hundred people worldwide have the diagnosis of Trisomy 9. Her tonsils were removed only a couple of weeks after she was seized, providing tissue that scientists were free to use in experiments. What else might they have done to this little girl behind closed doors? It has been apparent to her mother since the beginning that there were some within this whole ordeal that saw her child as nothing more than a guinea pig, a lab rat to be used for scientific experimentation. Nhyariah is the latest casualty of this battle called Medical Kidnapping.

Arizona Disbands Federally Mandated Citizen Review Panels for CPS Cases Leaving Families Fewer Options to Fight Corrupt System

Is it a case of the fox guarding the henhouse? All states are federally-mandated to have some type of citizen review panel for Child Protective Services cases, but a recent decision by Arizona's Department of Child Safety Director Greg McCay will move that citizen review panel in Arizona in-house, within the Department of Child Safety, by the end of the year. Presumably, a citizen review panel is designed to provide some level of accountability to the Child Welfare/Foster Care system, allowing for an objective third party to evaluate cases and ensure that parents' rights are not being violated and that children are truly being protected. Critics and parents fear that Arizona's move to in-house review panels will only serve to further insulate corrupt officials and lead to less, not more, oversight and accountability of the Department.

Enraged Idaho Community Acts to Help Young Couple Who Refused Vaccine for Newborn – Baby Back Home for Now

An Idaho newborn who was seized by Child Protective Services the day before Thanksgiving over vaccine refusal was conditionally returned to his parents on Friday, December 1. While supporters are rejoicing over the judge's decision, there is a great deal of concern over the state of Idaho's overreach in taking baby Elijah. Precious bonding time was lost, and a new family has been traumatized. Diamond Mehlhoff has cerebral palsy, which is a brain disorder affecting movement. Despite her disability, she is active and involved in her church. She lives with her husband Ari and the baby's grandfather. For the Mehlhoff family, they have won a temporary victory. Their baby is now home with them. Their church family has rallied around them and will be providing round-the-clock support. Like every other family that comes under the heavy hand of Child Protective Services, the couple will have to jump through hoops as they prepare for the next court hearing.

Nevada Rules Against Arizona CPS on Shoar Family Baby – Remaining Children Still Held as Prisoners in Arizona Foster Care

Jeff and Tabitha Shoars are rejoicing today over a Nevada court's ruling. The Child Protective Services' claims against them that originated in Arizona, not Nevada, have been found to be unsubstantiated, and the case is closed as of 10 a.m. on November 30, 2017. Despite repeated attempts by social workers from the State of Arizona to have their baby Ny'tallieya removed from her parents' custody, a Nevada court has found that there are no reasons to keep the baby from her home. Tabitha Shoars says that they are very excited, and that it feels "like a weight's been lifted off of [their] shoulders." This is the 4th time that Arizona has presented false allegations against them to the state of Nevada, and it is the 4th time that the allegations were found to be unsubstantiated. The Shoars are hopeful that this will signal to Arizona social workers that they cannot manipulate social workers and courts in other states. She says that one of the Nevada social workers they have worked with clearly sees that the Arizona CPS attacks against them are "harassment." The fight continues, however, to get their other 7 children back from the state of Arizona, where they remain held captive in foster care. Arizona social workers traveled to Nevada last year and kidnapped the Shoars' children, bringing them back to Arizona. Baby Ny'tallieya was the only one spared at that time, because she was born in Nevada and local officials would not help Arizona kidnap her. The Shoars' 7 children held prisoner in Arizona foster care have been traumatized and desperately want to return home to their parents in Nevada. They have filed a lawsuit in Arizona demanding justice.

Vaccine Refusal Increasingly Being Linked to Medical Kidnapping – Violation of Civil Rights

Author and research scientist Dr. James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, is concerned about doctors and Child Protective Services overruling parents who choose not to vaccinate. In a video livestreamed on the Facebook VAXXED page on the evening of Tuesday, November 28, 2017, he said: "In the United States, there is a new rash of what can only be called Medical Kidnap." He goes on to state: "When the government acts as though they have the authority to take rights away, that's when people need to stand up. That's when the people, especially in the United States, have always recognized that we need to stand up. And I can't imagine a right that is more sacred to a mom than the bonding moments that occur right after birth." The single most damaging practice in the events surrounding childbirth is the separation of mother and baby, yet the practice is occurring with more and more frequency as hospitals threaten parents with the removal of the child for refusal to vaccinate.

Baby of Idaho Disabled Mom Seized when Parents Claim Religious Exemption to Vaccines

Something unconscionable has happened in North Idaho this last week. We were notified by the daugther of a local pastor here in Kootenai County regarding a woman of his congregation, Diamond Mehlhoff, who gave birth in Kootenai County @ KMC on Monday November 20th via C section. On Wednesday November 22nd, after the parents refused vaccination for the baby, the state became involved and took this beautiful baby, Elijah, from his loving parents, claiming the mother to be unfit due to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy (a non progressive movement disorder). Their court hearing is tomorrow, Monday 27th at 8am @ 205 N 4th Street Coeur D Alene ID 83814 in the Juvenile Justice Center. They are asking anyone available to please come support them.

Thanksgiving? A Day of Despair for Many Because of Crimes Against Humanity

Today is a holiday of "Thanksgiving" for many people in the United States. However, I think it is important to understand that this is not a day of Thanksgiving for many people, but a day of mourning. Dr. Gary Kohl has reminded us that Native Americans are not fond of Thanksgiving. Here is the text of a plaque that overlooks Plymouth Rock, the site where Puritans first landed on Native American soil that explains why Thanksgiving has only negative connotations for non-whites: "Since 1970, Native Americans have gathered at noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native Americans do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims and other European settlers. To them, Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault on their culture. Participants in a National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today." If you are fortunate enough to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family members, you truly do have something to be thankful about. But for multitudes in the United States today, holidays like Thanksgiving are simply grim reminders of crimes committed against them that destroyed their families. It is very easy to look at the condition of our culture today, to see the injustice and abuses occurring on a daily basis, and lose hope. Why should one be thankful in the face of terrible injustice, where evil flourishes with seemingly no end in sight, and where it appears that there is no way to fight the corruption that is now the norm? Yet, there is still reason to be thankful...

Arizona Judge: Child Removed from Home Illegally – Only Reason Was Child Was “Adoptable”

One of the dirty little secrets of Child Protective Services is that children are sometimes taken from their homes, and their parents' rights ended, simply because the children are "adoptable." Now, in a stunning reversal of a termination of parental rights decision, a Court of Appeals has concluded that the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) took children from their mother primarily because her children were considered adoptable. This admission is now part of the court record. This confirms what many parents and social worker insiders have told Health Impact News - that one of the reasons that children are taken even from good, loving homes is because of their adoptability, not just in Arizona, but in every state. There is a great deal of federal funding in adopting out children to strangers; thus, children have literally become a commodity to be seized and sold. In any other context, this would be considered human trafficking. In the context of Child Protective Services, it is considered "in the best interest of the child."

Alabama Grandparents of Rape Victim Cleared of False Charges Used to Medically Kidnap Infant

The story of Baby Braelon in Alabama went viral during the summer of 2016, reaching a million people in just the first 24 hours. The baby boy was born to a 14 year-old mother who was a rape victim. When Braelon was born, his grandmother Dee became concerned that DHR was going to try something to take the baby away from his young mother, whom Dee and Rodney had raised since infancy. Dee was shocked when they witnessed the accused rapist Samuel Woods III and his mother barge into the hospital room uninvited shortly after the baby was born, having somehow bypassed hospital security. They saw the shocked faces of the young mother and family members as Woods scooped the baby from the bassinet like he owned the place. After a brief, uncomfortable conversation, Woods was told to leave. That encounter was used later that same day as the grounds for DHR to come into the hospital, flanked by hospital security and armed police officers, to kidnap Baby Braelon out of his breastfeeding mother's arms. It was not until several months later that the Princes were finally able to learn that "inviting the rapist into the hospital room" was the grounds used to seize Baby Braelon that day, and the young mother and her twin brother less than 24 hours later. Dee was warned not to post their story on social media. She was told to "keep quiet" and "comply." But Dee Prince knew that silence would only enable and embolden the bullies that were her abusers. Now, she has won - because she dared to trust God and speak out.

Medical Kidnapping of Seniors: A $273 BILLION Industry

How the Elderly Lose Their Rights: Guardians can sell the assets and control the lives of senior citizens without their consent—and reap a profit from it. In the United States, a million and a half adults are under the care of guardians, either family members or professionals, who control some two hundred and seventy-three billion dollars in assets, according to an auditor for the guardianship fraud program in Palm Beach County. Little is known about the outcome of these arrangements, because states do not keep complete figures on guardianship cases—statutes vary widely—and, in most jurisdictions, the court records are sealed. A Government Accountability report from 2010 said, “We could not locate a single Web site, federal agency, state or local entity, or any other organization that compiles comprehensive information on this issue.” A study published this year by the American Bar Association found that “an unknown number of adults languish under guardianship” when they no longer need it, or never did. The authors wrote that “guardianship is generally “permanent, leaving no way out—‘until death do us part.’ ”

Will Everyone in the U.S. Soon Need Government Approval to be Parents and Keep Their Children?

Children belong to their parents. Such a concept is foundational to every culture throughout all of human history. The family is the core group of any society. The need of the child for his or her own parents is a need that impacts the child on every level: biologically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, developmentally, and culturally. In most circles, the truth of the above statements is accepted as common knowledge. However, there are some who do not hold to these most cherished values of family and kinship. Unfortunately, some of these people are radicals and extremists who hold positions of great influence over public policy, which translates into very real problems for families. Richard Wexler, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, wrote of some radical views of the family by Elizabeth Bartholet, who is a Professor of Family Law at Harvard Law School: "Bartholet’s ideas are so extreme that they include requiring every family with a young child to open itself to mandatory government surveillance." Bartholet has worked with another radical whose views we have exposed here at Health Impact News, Professor James Dwyer of William and Mary College. Dwyer believes that there is no inherent right to parent one’s own children, and has stated: "The reason that parent-child relationship exists is because the state confers legal parenthood on people through its paternity and maternity laws." One of Dwyer's books was even the required text for a course on Family Law that Bartholet taught. If these law professors' radical views were isolated and contained to a few classes and lectures attended by a handful of elite college students, their views might be dismissed as irrelevant to most of us. However, both Dwyer and Bartholet appear to have a great deal of influence over public policy, and their views trickle down to the very people who have the power to make the equivalent of life-and-death decisions over families. These radical views that supplant parental rights in favor of government control of children are behind many of the Medical Kidnap stories we publish.

Teen Girls Abused in State Care in Michigan Seized Again in Florida After Insurance Refuses to Cover Treatment

A battle to get insurance to cover necessary medical care for teenage sisters with bulimia nervosa has ended up with those teens being taken by Child Protective Services in Florida. Their mother is asking how it can be that an insurance company is able to direct CPS to remove children from their homes. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) has accused Laura Dalton of "medical neglect," but the evidence provided to Health Impact News demonstrates that she is a dedicated mother who has been working tirelessly to secure the proper treatment for her daughters. In fact, one of the twins was seized from the hospital, where her mother had taken her the week before due to her dangerously low blood pressure and pulse. The twins have suffered eating disorders after they were put into foster care in Michigan, where they were allegedly abused. They were healthy girls prior to that time, but as a penalty for allegedly smoking marijuana one time, they were removed from their home, and that is when their real problems began. Both girls almost died in state care in Michigan, before their mother was able to get them back home. Once home, their mother looked for help for their eating disorders, and eventually found treatment options for them in Florida. Statistics show that children who have been in foster care are 7 times more likely to develop bulimia and other eating disorders. Foster children are more likely to develop PTSD than veterans of war. But now, after being recommended for a treatment plan that has showed great promise for the girls, their insurance will not cover it, and the mom has been reported to CPS for medical neglect. One of the twins was immediately seized from the hospital, as the family's nightmare has begun all over again.

The REAL Foster Care Housing Crisis: Too Many Foster Children, NOT Too Few Foster Homes

Thousands of children are trapped in foster care because their parents don’t have adequate housing. That is the REAL Foster Care housing crisis. Yes, there is a disconnect between the number of foster parents and the number of foster children. But that’s not because we have too few foster parents. It’s because we have too many foster children. The REAL foster care housing crisis is part of the biggest problem in American child welfare – the confusion of poverty with “neglect” and the racial bias that goes with it.