Former Kansas Gubernatorial Candidate Becomes Warrior Fighting Against State-Sponsored Child Kidnapping

Jennifer Winn ran for governor of the state of Kansas in 2014. Near the end of her gubernatorial campaign, a mother reached out to her and said that she needed to talk with her. She told Jennifer Winn that the state was taking children from families. Frankly, she sounded crazy to Jennifer, like a "conspiracy theorist." The woman didn't stop trying to talk to her. She persisted, blowing up her phone daily. It became clear that "she's not going to let up," so Jennifer agreed to have the woman come to her office. She was not prepared for what she heard. The mother brought in a detailed timeline of what had happened to her family, complete with transcripts and evidence to back up her side of the story. Jennifer carried the papers home with her that night and stayed up most of the night reading the woman's story. Based on a social worker's false allegations, the mother's children had been taken and placed into foster care. As Jennifer got deeper into the story she says: "I could not believe what I was reading. I was like Terri [LaPoint, who originally believed] 'Oh, this is just an isolated case.' I am going to expose this, and we're going to fix it, and we're going to get your kids. She came in. We did a video that day. I released that video, and in 24 hours, I had over 500 requests. In a week later, I had over 1,500 requests, and I was floored. I literally, like, for 2 days, I shut down and I cried, because I couldn't believe the stories I was reading. Everything about this agency that I believed was true was a lie. Everything. Children are being harmed. Not only are they being harmed, they're being drugged." A warrior had awakened. The truth of what Jennifer Winn was seeing caused something to rise up within her, and she has not been the same since. She recently spoke to a crowd gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the abuses of state-sponsored kidnappings.

Indiana High Court Accuses CPS of “Significant Violations of Due Process in Termination of Parental Rights”

Cracks are starting to be exposed in the foundation of the state-sponsored child kidnapping structure of Child "Protective" Services. Parents who have been fighting the system for their children have seen these gaping flaws all along, but for decades anyone with power to change it has turned a blind eye to their plight. Finally, it appears that the higher courts in one state are beginning to recognize that the system is, indeed, violating parental rights with alarming frequency. Appellate judges from the Indiana Court of Appeals recently sent a strong rebuke to the Department of Child Services (DCS), citing "significant violations of due process occurring in termination of parental rights cases throughout the state." Indianapolis NBC affiliate Channel 13 reports that the judges acknowledged that there is a pattern of "repeated violations" of parental and Constitutional due process rights by DCS. While the fact that the agency routinely violates parents' rights certainly comes as no surprise to anyone on the front lines of the battle, the admission by the appeals court and by DCS itself that it is happening comes as a shock, albeit a good one, to attorneys and parents alike. Could this be the beginning of the dominoes falling? Will other states take notice and follow suit?

Group of 4000+ Parents Takes on Minnesota CPS and Government Child Kidnapping and Trafficking

Earlier this year (2018) we reported that a group of Minnesota parents filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing Dakota County and the State of Minnesota for kidnapping their children and placing them unnecessarily into foster care. The parents are part of an organization called The Family Preservation Foundation, which also goes by the name Stop CPS from Legally Kidnapping Children. Recently, the group, which is reported to now represent over 4000 parents in Minnesota, garnered more local media coverage when a judge return a 1-year-old boy to his mother who had been allegedly placed into foster care for 3 months based on "false allegations of medical neglect." The return of Amanda Weber's child was seen as a victory for the Family Preservation Foundation: "The legal victory is symbolic for a coalition of parents and advocates seeking to change the state's child protection system. The group has argued that Minnesota's laws criminalize parents for what they consider to be routine parental discipline and have a disproportionate effect on black families."

Investigative Report in Kentucky Reveals Corruption Still Exists in Foster Care as Children Die or Go Missing

The corruption in Kentucky Child Protection Services and Foster Care has been reported on extensively here at Health Impact News since 2015. A new report aired on Wave 3 News by investigative journalist John Boel reveals that corruption in the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services is apparently ongoing, as one child was allegedly murdered by his foster parent after being taken away from his family, and another foster parent is blowing the whistle on the abuses of Kentucky foster care where children go missing due to lack of oversight. The current investigation began in 2017, when 4-year-old Hunter Payton died in foster care, and his biological parents questioned the story put forward as to the cause of his death, which was reported to be an accident. “They told us it was an ‘unlikely’ injury,” Hunter’s mother April Payton said. “It doesn’t happen. Something hit him hard.” He had only been in foster care for 3 months. During that time, the parents allegedly complained to the state about bruising on their son, and they were apparently told several different stories about how he died in an accidental fall. As John Boel reports: "Months after our report, Billy Embry-Martin, 33, was charged with murder. The lawsuit accuses him and his husband, Travis Embry-Martin, of 'violent punishment, physical abuse and denial of food.' Billy Embry-Martin is free on bond awaiting a December trial on the murder charge."

Alabama Senior Citizen Medically Kidnapped and Forced onto Drugs Against Family Wishes

Just as Child Protective Services and a judge have almost omnipotent, unchecked power to decide unilaterally that the relationship between a parent and a young child is not worthy of being preserved, Adult Protective Services and a probate judge have the same power to sever the relationship between an adult child and their elderly parent. Sometimes the relationship has endured for longer than the judge and social worker combined have been alive, yet with the stroke of a pen, a senior citizen can be completely torn away from their own children. The wishes of the elder can be completely ignored, and documents assigning power of attorney to a trusted adult child can become meaningless. Medical and financial decisions are placed into the hands of a court-appointed guardian who is often a stranger to everyone in the family. Nancy Scott, a retired English teacher from south Alabama, wrote to Health Impact News describing the medical kidnapping of her 102-year-old mother, who is also a beloved retired schoolteacher known to her former students as "Ms. Gregory." St. Vincent's Hospital and the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) seized custody of Marian (Gregory) Leonard in February 2018. She is being held against her will, forced by a Jefferson County, Alabama, court into Hospice care, even though she has no terminal illness or disease. She is elderly, but her mind is sound. She is being drugged against her will and has told her daughter that she doesn't want the drugs. Nancy has always enjoyed a close relationship with her mother, but she has not seen her since midsummer. At that time, Ms. Gregory begged to go home. She told Nancy: "If you don't get me out of here, they're going to kill me, and they're going to kill you."

Was Texas Mom’s Baby who was Accidentally Vaccinated with Gardasil Medically Kidnapped for Medical Research?

When Anita Vasquez sought medical care for the reactions her baby girl was having after mistakenly being given the Gardasil vaccine at only 4 months old, she had no way of knowing that she was walking into a hospital that was working on vaccine development in collaboration with one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. She found herself tangled in what appeared to her to be a deep web of interests that were in direct conflict with her only goal, which was simply trying to get help for her baby. Instead of finding help, she was met with accusations that she had somehow caused harm. Doctors and social workers testified that Anita had Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (also known as "factitious disorder"), which means she was accused of making up her daughter's medical conditions when there were none. Anita is a licensed nurse by profession. The state of Texas recently terminated her parental rights to her daughter Aniya Blu. It was apparent to Anita from the very beginning that there was more going on than meets the eye. Evidence was hidden. Medical records were kept from her and her attorneys. Medical diagnoses of real problems were covered up. The deception continued throughout the ordeal with Child Protective Services, and it followed Anita into the courtroom. There were many facts of the case that Anita didn't learn about until just before the termination hearing. Even then, the evidence was ignored. Anita Vasquez has appealed the termination of her parental rights for her daughter, who was mistakenly injected at 4 months old with the Gardasil 9 vaccine intended for her older brother. Anita received a letter on August 31, 2018, from the Thirteenth District of Texas Court of Appeals noting that her appeal was accepted.

After Trip to Emergency Room Illinois Couple has all 4 Children Medically Kidnapped

Like many Americans, Mary Sweeney and Cedric Roberts believed that Child Protective Services was made up of "the good guys," the ones who protect children from bad parents who abuse their children. They didn't realize that a trip to the emergency room puts normal, loving parents at risk of losing their children. Mary wanted to make sure that everything was fine after a simple accidental injury, but the trip to the ER resulted in all 4 of their children being taken from them. It could have happened to anyone. The suburban Chicago couple spent the summer without their children, including infant twins, because a Child Abuse Pediatrician in another state has accused them of abusing one of their babies. The doctor never saw the baby in person. A fracture the doctor diagnosed ended up being a glare on her screen. There was no fracture. It was a mistake. Even so, Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) has not returned the children to their parents.

Parents Lose Custody of Disabled Adult Son for Questioning Psych Drugs

Medical kidnapping can happen to adults as well as children. Health Impact News has reported a number of adult kidnapping stories over the years. Some involve senior citizens. Others, like this one reported by ABC News in Raleigh, North Carolina, regarding 24-year-old, Ian Bankert, involves the seizure of adult children with mental illness or disability from their parents who have loved, raised, and cared for their children their entire lives. Doctors (mostly psychiatrists) and courts have the power to step in and take over the entire lives of such individuals, isolating them from their families and ultimately deciding every aspect of their care. Ian's parents became concerned about the doctors "overprescribing him with medication," a concern which is shared by many parents and patients, and watchdog groups. Doctors recommended "more medication and long-term care," but his parents, according to ABC11, "instead insisted that a good diet, exercise and faith could restore Ian's sense of self." Ian's story is another in a long list of cases where the financial and academic interests of one group - psychiatrists and public guardians - are pitted against the civil rights and familial interests of individuals and their families. The long arm of the state again overrides the decisions of parents who know and love their son and want what is best for him. They do not believe that locking him away from his life and loved ones and drugging him are the answer.

Grandmother Wrongly Accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome is Freed from Prison After 11 Years

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a grandmother was freed from prison this month after Loyola Law School's Project for the Innocent became involved. Maria Mendez spent the last 11 years of her life, serving a 25-year sentence for the death of her 9-month-old grandson. She had been convicted of Shaken Baby Syndrome, but attorneys and law students who fight for people who are wrongfully convicted took up her case, pointing out medical evidence that was not considered by the court. Mendez was originally convicted based on the testimony of a Child Abuse Specialist. Dr. Carol Berkowitz is the Director of the Child Abuse Fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. At one time she served as the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She is part of the Helfer Society – an elite group of doctors involved with Child Abuse, and in 2014, she won the society's highest award. Despite her many accolades, Dr. Berkowitz failed to consider alternative explanations for the injuries sustained by the grandson of Ms. Mendez. The testimony that she gave reflects the junk science beliefs involved in Shaken Baby Syndrome. Other doctors disagree with her diagnosis, but she was the only doctor to testify 11 years ago.

Texas Mom Who is a Nurse Fights to Regain Custody of Daughter Taken Away After Gardasil Vaccine Injury

Social workers told a Texas mother that Monday was her last visit with her daughter. Aniya Blu Vasquez was medically kidnapped from her family after she became ill following a medical error in which her pediatrician injected her with the Gardasil 9 vaccine intended for her older brother. Aniya was just 4 months old at the time. A Texas court decided last month that the parental rights of her mother, Anita Vasquez, should be terminated, devastating the family and supporters alike. However, their story is not over. In a quirk of legalities, Anita Vasquez filed a Declaration of Recision of Signature/Contracts before the court was able to file the entry of judgement on the termination of parental rights. As a result, there will be another hearing on Monday, July 23, 2018, at the Victoria County Courthouse at 9 a.m. She says that there is substantial new evidence in her case that was not considered by the court. Anita asserts that the very basis upon which CPS seized custody of Aniya was fraudulent, and CPS knew it all along. Concerned citizens are rallying around the family that they believe is suffering a grave injustice.