After Public Outcry Oregon Judge Orders Children Returned to Parents with “IQ Too Low to Parent”

In a dramatic turn of events, an Oregon judge has ruled that the children of Amy Fabbrini and Eric Zeigler must be returned home. They were taken by Child Protective Services on the grounds that their parents' IQ was too low to parent. There was no abuse. No neglect. There were only allegations by social workers that they were not clever enough to be parents of their own children. The boys, ages 4 and 10 months, were each seized within days of their births. The state had every intention of terminating their parents' parental rights and adopting them out. Health Impact News was the first to investigate and report their story. The public was rightfully outraged that the state had such unrestrained power, and word of their story spread into the mainstream press.

Oregon Couple Loses Children due to “Low IQ”

Earlier this year (May, 2017) we covered the story of Amy Fabbrini and Eric Ziegler of Bend, Oregon, who have been fighting to prevent Oregon Department of Human Services' Child Protection Services from terminating their parental rights to their children for nearly four years. The agency has deemed the couple "incapable" of parenting. CPS claims that the couple cannot provide for their children because they are believed to be intellectually limited. Two of their children were removed shortly after birth, before the couple even had a chance to parent them. This label of "incapable" placed on Amy and Eric comes as a shock to those who know the couple, given that both of the parents graduated from high school with a standard diploma, and both ranked in the middle of their graduating class. Since we have published Amy and Eric's story, it has gained the attention of other media sources. While we are happy anytime this problem of child kidnapping by state Child "Protection" Services gains media attention, the public needs to understand that these problems are systemic and are an epidemic - they are not isolated cases. They represent a very well-funded (many billions of dollars) state-sponsored system designed for only one purpose: to remove children from families. Once one understands the reasons why these stories happen, it will easily be seen that this is a very corrupt system, and we are justified in referring to the actions as "kidnapping," and to the system overall as a "child trafficking" system. We are not choosing to use emotional language to highlight a few egregious cases. We are accurately describing what is happening all across the United States, every single day.