Recording Surfaces of Illinois Department of Health Planning to Medically Kidnap Newborns from Parents Who Refuse Vitamin K Shot at Birth

Earlier this year (2019) the Chicago Tribune reported on a federal lawsuit where parents sued several doctors at three hospitals and DCFS for medically kidnapping their newborn infants simply for refusing the Vitamin K shot at birth. Megan Fox, writing for PJ Media, has published a recording from an April 12, 2018 meeting of the Perinatal Advisory Committee (PAC) that operates under the Illinois Department of Public Health. In the recording, health officials that apparently include doctors and possibly nurses who are authorized to give the Vitamin K shot to newborns, discuss how they can work together with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to take custody of newborn babies from parents who refuse the Vitamin K shot at birth. The members of the Health Department basically conclude that since it is DCFS policy to mandate the Vitamin K shot, that medical professionals have the authority to take custody of the child and administer the Vitamin K shot over the objections of the parents, even without DCFS involvement. Such "custody" can be as little as only "2 minutes," the time it takes to give the shot. So basically Illinois Health Department officials decided in a meeting that they had authority to take a child away from the parents, without DCFS involvement, without parental approval, and with no court or judge's order to take custody, and forcibly inject the newborn child with the Vitamin K shot.

Illinois Parents Sue Doctors, Hospitals, and DCFS for Medical Kidnapping After Refusing Vitamin K Shot at Birth

In the moments after Angela Bougher gave birth last winter, she and her husband, a suburban Chicago pastor, were eager to hold their new baby girl. But as Bougher was being treated in the delivery room, the couple contends, a nurse picked up the infant to administer a vitamin K shot, a common practice in maternity wards across the country to help a baby’s blood-clotting ability in case of emergency. The Boughers said they are not “anti-vaxxers” or against any procedure they believe to be medically necessary, but they didn’t think the shot was in that category. They had agreed to sign a waiver confirming their wishes that the new baby — their fifth child — not receive vitamin K, based on their beliefs that God’s creation isn’t automatically deficient or flawed at birth. But instead of offering them a form, the Boughers allege, the nurse announced she was reporting the couple to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and left the room with the newborn. On Monday, the Boughers and several other parents filed a sweeping federal lawsuit accusing the agency, its current and former leaders, a number of doctors and three hospitals of violating their constitutional rights just after the births of their children.