CNN
—
A Black couple in Texas has been reunited with their newborn daughter after authorities removed her baby last month and placed her in foster care, citing doctors’ concerns about the treatment for a jaundice diagnosis.
Rodney and Temesia Jackson, both of DeSoto, Texas, were arrested on April 20 after a nearly month-long battle with the state’s Child Protective Services Agency, according to the Afiya Center, a reproductive justice advocacy group. He regained custody of his daughter Mira.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which includes CPS, confirmed to CNN that the agency had recommended that the assistant district attorney dismiss the case. Mira’s release was granted Thursday, according to court filings.
The Jacksons were begging for Mira’s return. video posted on social media, Press conference as reproductive justice; activists protested and rallied behind the family.
The Jacksons said the decision was prompted by the decision to have a midwife treat Mila for jaundice rather than take her to the hospital for treatment as recommended by doctors. Temesia Jackson said during her talk: Press conference earlier this month She gave birth to Mila at home on March 21 with the help of a midwife and insisted that the same trusted midwife provide her baby’s medical care. But Mila’s pediatrician disagreed with the decision and ultimately contacted CPS, Temesia Jackson said.
“We’ve been treated like criminals,” Rodney Jackson said at a news conference. “This is a nightmare I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
Reproductive justice advocates say Mila’s removal is just the latest example of the criminalization of Black parents, who lose children to the child welfare system at disproportionate rates. In 2018, Black children made up 23% of youth in foster care in the United States, but only 14% of the national child population. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. moreover, one study According to research, between 2003 and 2014, 53% of Black children were the subject of a child welfare investigation by the time they turned 18.
Marcia Jones, Executive Director Afiya Center The Dallas, Texas-based nonprofit that advocates for Black women and girls said there is a systemic problem with the child welfare system that disproportionately targets Black parents. Jones said Black families often experience the criminal justice system for the first time in family court.
“This issue remains largely unspoken and invisible because the only idea that exists is that black women are not good parents and that we are criminalized because of poverty. ” Jones told CNN. “This is nothing new.”
Jones said the center stepped in to help the Jackson family last month and pressured public officials to bring Mila home. She believes this played a role in the family reunion last week.
“There’s no reason to take this baby out of the house,” Jones told CNN. “These families’ voices weren’t being heard. Black midwives weren’t being heard.”
Rodney and Temesia Jackson could not be reached for comment.
In a letter to CPS obtained, CNN affiliate station WFAAyour family pediatrician, Dr. Anand Bhatt, The Jacksons, both members of the Baylor Scott & White Health System, said that although they “very much love and care for” Mila, they “made the decision to refuse simple treatment for the sake of their baby due to a lack of trust in medical care and guidance.” I gave up,” he wrote. This is a treatment that can prevent brain damage. ”
“I have authorized CPS assistance to ensure that this baby receives medically necessary and required care,” the letter continued.
CBS NewsThe newspaper obtained a copy of an affidavit filed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which said Butt contacted DFPS investigators on March 25 and said Mila’s bilirubin test showed a level of 21.7 milligrams. It was reported that it was pointed out.
A bilirubin test can screen for jaundice and other symptoms. According to CBS News, Butt told investigators that the levels were “a cause for great concern” and that “bilirubin can cross the blood-brain barrier, so it can cause brain damage.” Stated.
According to court documents obtained by CBS News, Butt secured a bed for Mila at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and asked the Jacksons to take her there or she would receive a welfare check. He said he would call the police. WFAA reported that Mr. Butt wanted Mila to undergo phototherapy, a common treatment for jaundice.
But according to CBS News, court documents say Rodney Jackson said he and Temesia Jackson were going to treat their baby “naturally” and did not believe in “modern medicine.” He is said to have told Mr.
Midwife Cheryl Edinbard told CBS News that the family ordered a blanket and goggles to administer light therapy to treat Mila’s jaundice.
CPS investigators and police went to the Jacksons’ home at 4 a.m. on March 25 after the couple failed to show up at the hospital, but Rodney Jackson declined to be interviewed, according to court documents obtained by CBS News. That’s what it means. An hour later, authorities returned with an ambulance and a fire engine, but Rodney Jackson still refused to let them in.
According to CBS News, authorities returned to the home on March 30th with a warrant and arrested Rodney Jackson on suspicion of obstructing the execution of a civil suit. Police entered the home and removed Mila from Temesia Jackson. The Jackson family’s two other children were not removed, according to CBS News.
Temesia Jackson said at a news conference that when she asked to see the affidavit, she noticed it had another mother’s name on it.
Temesia Jackson said: “I had a momentary feeling that they had stolen my baby even though I had given birth at home. And they thought my baby belonged to this other woman.” That’s what I’m trying to say,” Temesia Jackson said.
Marissa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said in an email to CNN that the agency’s initial affidavit gave the wrong name. She said the mistake was corrected in the lawsuit filing.
Gonzalez declined an interview with CNN to discuss the matter further, citing “national security restrictions.”
“DFPS’ goal has always been to safely reunite children with their parents,” Gonzalez also said. “The decision as to when that happens is up to the judge who ordered the removal.”
CNN’s request for an interview with Butt was also denied by Baylor Scott & White.
“Due to patient privacy, it would be inappropriate to comment on this matter,” the health system said in an emailed statement. “We comply with the reporting requirements set forth in the Texas Family Code and other applicable laws.”
Advocates say racial bias among professionals such as teachers, doctors and social workers creates inequities in the child welfare system.
Dorothy Roberts, a law professor and sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said decisions to report neglect and abuse are largely shaped by racist stereotypes about black families.
She said the child welfare system needs to consider: trauma inflicted on children When you are separated from your family.
“Instead of the current system of doctors reporting suspicions (which we know to be highly stigmatized) and investigating families (which we know to be extremely traumatic), we will We have to ask whether there is a better way to meet medical needs,” Roberts said. , author of Torn Away: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World” “Hospitals should not be scary places for parents.”
Mr Roberts said it could also be: long-standing cultural conflict The relationship between the health system and the often devalued midwife. Black midwives have provided maternal care for hundreds of years. giving birth to an enslaved woman’s baby And even the wives of slave owners. However, as medicine became more specialized in the late 1800s, male doctors wanted to manage childbirth, and some believed that midwives were unsuitable. According to a report by Vox.
Monica Simpson, Executive Director sister songReproductive justice organizations that advocate for women of color said many black women were choosing midwifery because they had lost trust in doctors and hospitals.
Much of this is driven by grim statistics. Black women are 2.6 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women, according to the latest data. National Center for Health Statistics.
Additionally, black infants die at more than twice the rate of white infants. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Simpson said the child welfare system is broken. She said racism contributes to the continued criminalization and segregation of black families.
“There’s a myth going around that black women can’t properly raise children,” Simpson said. “We’ve been fighting these narratives for decades. It’s horrifying that Black women are criminalized for being mothers.”
