Arizona Families Hold Umbrella Rally on Anniversary of Diegel Sisters Medical Kidnapping

It has been a year now since Melissa Diegel's daughters, Kayla and Hannah, were seized by Arizona CPS and Phoenix Children's Hospital, one year since that horrible week last April when the Diegel sisters joined the ranks of not hundreds, but thousands of children in foster care in Arizona, many of whom are believed to be there unjustly. The Diegel story helped to thrust the issue of medical kidnapping into the national spotlight. In commemoration of the painful anniversary, other families and supporters joined together for an Arizona State House Umbrella Rally, to "rally for the 17,000 Arizona children currently in State Care." Umbrellas have become a symbol for these children, starting out as simply a tribute to the Diegel sisters because Hannah has always loved umbrellas. As the number of supporters grew, the umbrellas have come to symbolize much more, as a rallying cry for activists fighting to bring these children home: "All children belong under the protective umbrella of loving parents."