Sarah Anne Markham, 23, is facing charges of child neglect after she allegedly refused to take her newborn baby to a hospital despite the child being dehydrated and underweight. The police reported that the reason was that Markham is a vegan and objected to the formula prescribed by the doctors.
The arrest was triggered by a report from a pediatrician who told Markham that her baby needed to be hospitalized for treatment to address the low weight and dehydration issues. Markham instead went home and then refused to open the door when police arrived. According to the police report, the officers proceeded to call a locksmith to enter the apartment where they found Markham who insisted that she wanted to get a second opinion form a “vegan doctor.” Police also report that Markham said that she would not give the formula/medicine that the doctor provided because she believed that some of ingredients came from animals. She is also quoted as saying that she purchased organic soy formula and, when asked by the officers how she knew that it was safe for a newborn, she allegedly said that if Whole Foods Market sells it then the formula doesn’t contain any animal parts and, therefore, must be safe.
While she agreed to take the baby to the hospital, police said that she waited an hour and was then placed under arrest. Her baby was placed into state custody.
The case could raise the question of where to draw the line between parental authority over nutrition and child welfare. Presumably, a child can be raised on a vegan diet and develop in a perfectly healthy way. The courts tend to accept the view of doctors when they concluded that a child is at risk. However, vegans insist that babies can be raised on a vegan diet. I would think that vegan parents have a legitimate objection for prescribed formula on the grounds that the product contains animal residue or ingredients — just as religious diets are given accommodation. In this case, the report of the hospital will be key to any prosecution and there could be a contest of experts on the degree of dehydration and underweight readings.
Source: ClickOrlando
A vegetarian may eat dairy products. A vegan does not. Neither eat meat.
I’m inclined to think that the mother was unable to breast feed and she was unaware of how dangerously dehydrated or malnourished her baby was. It’s too bad she wasn’t seeing a pediatrician that was familiar with vegan alternatives for the baby, or at least who understood and was able to alleviate the young woman’s concerns The doctor she was going to could diagnose the problem but was unable to prescribe an acceptable alternative.
This was a failure of the system to help a young mother learn how to care for her baby. The little buggers don’t come with an instruction booklet and it’s really unfortunate if there aren’t knowledgeable family members to help out.
One case: baby was taken to hospital by babysitter b/c something was wrong, baby wasn’t thriving. mom was trying to breast feed and accepted that when baby quit he was full. formula was added to his regimen, mother received education on how much he should be eating, mother and baby rec’d visits from nurse for awhile. baby thrived.
If you can’t take care of your kids, then the state will. The kids come first not extreme doctrines. Strength of will is a good thing until it becomes simple mindless stubbornness.
How many children die each year because of extreme parental positions? It is no different than neglect. That the baby was in need of hospitalization is the doctor’s call. It is not based on the mumbo jumbo of religion or any other idealistic position. The mother was advised, then told, then forced to care for the health of the baby. When she didn’t then the state stepped in. This seems as it should be.
JT wrote “just as religious diets are given accommodation”
Religious and other nuts should not be allowed to abuse their children.
This story vaguely reminds me of 3-year-old Victoria Wilcher who is somewhat famous for allegedly having being verbally abused by KFC staff. Except that the KFC story now appears to be a scam. Not one article I read opines on the reality that her parents or grandparents left her alone with pit bulls. As usual, I disagree with libertarians here; parents do not have the right to maim or kill their children. http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/24/us/kfc-incident-questions/index.html
She does not look like a vegan. More like some kid from Orlando. A true Vegan is a German deity from pre Christian days. A Vegan smoke Pegan and porked Megan. They only ate vegetables because the meat was all suspect. And if I was shopping in Walmart in Orlando then I would opt for the veggies. But, as a dog I will eat all sorts of scraps and what not.
I bet the kid grows up to be a real carnivore. We discussed zealotry yesterday on the Atheist thread. I said there are all types of zealots, including food. We are becoming a nation w/ no common sense, no moral core. When that occurs, zealotry fill that vacuum. Poor kid has a shitbird mom. That does not bode well for the poor darling. I just said a prayer to Saint Gerard, the patron saint of mothers.
Yes, Nick, a vegan zealot. A dogmatic vegan. Motto: Give me vegetables or give me death….
My Child
It is a human right to raise my child my way!
And with that right an obligation’s born,
To nurture and protect until the time has come
To free an independent whole.
My Parent
There was a time when trust was unequivocal.
Just one authority at first, then two.
(They teach a language whole! And with an accent too!)
I learn and grow until the time has come
To play an independent role.
_______
I think she fails on the obligation. Just saying.
Dredd: “The police decided unilaterally which doctor had it right (the only one consulted who contacted them) without judicial involvement.”
Police normally have a duty to intervene when there is an urgent safety consideration.
I am also wondering if any of the igPays breast fed the baby while it was in police custody. The reason I employ the word “igPay” instead of Pig when referring to a dumb cop is the civility rule. Pig Latin is an end run around offensive words. It is also a way to confuse the computers employed by the NSA to determine just what is being said on this blog. It would be unfair to call a cop an oxymoron like some people suggest when I say dumb cop. I know nothing about oxy or how one could be a moron or a retard. There are smart cops but they usually are the one’s who confiscate Smartphones and see just where it is that you were travelling to when you had your expired license plate on the back of the car when he pulled you over. But more on that topic with Wolf Blitzer today with JT. It would be interesting if the igPays in the Vegan case here stole her cell phone when they seized the kid. Or, if the igPays fed the kid something which would be offensive to mom when they had the kid in custody. Usually igPays eat donuts but the kid is too young for that.
Under the rules of civility for the blog you should reconsider branding this woman as a “vegan”. The word is akin to “retard”. The word retard has many applications, only one of which is related to a person of mental retardation. A person from the South who exhibits bigotry can be called a bigot but not a retard. It is civil to call a person a vegetarian. Like mental retardation, one does not have control over it and can not be blamed for it. Now a proper name for someone who can not feed their own child might be more akin to the word retard but mentally retarded is more civil. So, I would go with mentally defective vegetarian with non specific religious beliefs of low mentality and high esteem, bordering on cross generation hippies of the fourth degree. One can find this in the DSM 5 which is more formally known as the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual, 5th Edition. Not to be confused with the musical group The Fifth Edition.
“The courts tend to accept the view of doctors when they concluded that a child is at risk. However, vegans insist that babies can be raised on a vegan diet. I would think that vegan parents have a legitimate objection for prescribed formula on the grounds that the product contains animal residue or ingredients — just as religious diets are given accommodation. In this case, the report of the hospital will be key to any prosecution and there could be a contest of experts on the degree of dehydration and underweight readings.” – JT
The police decided unilaterally which doctor had it right (the only one consulted who contacted them) without judicial involvement.
When experts have opposing views the police should not be the ones to decide, the court or jury should.
Would it make a difference if she was vegan for _religious reasons_?
Have a friend who is vegan. When her kids were very young she fed non-vegan food just to be safe, The girls are in middle school and have the choice of being vegan or not (Dad is a meat eater). As I understand they choose vegan, most of the time, but the younger really enjoys a good hamburger.
“The case could raise the question of where to draw the line between parental authority over nutrition and child welfare.”
Dehydration and malnutrition seem like a pretty reasonable line to me.
Feed’em anything you want as long as they don’t get dehydrated, malnourished or obese.
Hahaha, I love the logic. The animal products will hurt my baby, not the malnutrition and dehydration.
Would she rather be right (in her mind) or keep her child alive?
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/why-soy-formula-even-organic-is-so-dangerous-for-babies/
Soy formula is a terrible option for babies. There are formulas for lactose intolerant babies that are better than soy. Breast feeding would’ve been best, regular formal seconds best. Sounds as if the baby wasn’t tolerating the soy formula and may have had diarrhea to get so dehydrated and underweight. Hope this one posts. My new grandson is doing so well on pure mothers milk, I wish some moms would try to stick with nursing their babies and not give up. There are great lactation consultants nowadays that are of great help to new moms.
Annie, I retrieved your comment at 1:59 AM.
Thanks Darren!
I nursed all my babies and they didn’t get sick when they got older because they had well developed immunity systems as a result
I agree with Lisa and Darren – breastfeeding is at least a completely natural option.
Is she unaware that Whole Foods has a meat department? Did she read the can and make sure it was for the correct life stage? And some infants cannot tolerate soy. What then? Starvation rather than breastfeed or give another formula? The moms I know who used formula all had to go through several brands until they found one that their child thrived on.
Newborns do not have very much reserves. When they get dehydrated and malnourished, they can fade quickly. Dehydration can rapidly turn into severe dehydration. Her issue with animal products would look pretty inconsequential to her later if she had lost her child.
If the newborn was already dehydrated, then something is wrong – either she wasn’t drinking the formula, or couldn’t tolerate it and threw it up, or she wasn’t getting fed enough. Newborns need to feed every 2 hours.
A mother’s first and foremost responsibility is to feed her child. Regardless of what formula or breastmilk she chose, her baby was dehydrated and needed help quickly.
A first time mom can get pretty overwhelmed, and can obsess about doing the exact right, best thing for her newborn. And sometimes they just don’t know what to do. What if her baby was sleeping too much and missing feedings, and she had no idea how much she should be consuming in a day?
We’ve heard about hospitals abusing parents (such as the Peletier case), but in this instance, it sounds like there was a real problem, and either indecision, ignorance, or negligence on the part of the mother.
Arggg, lost comment in Wordmess.
Agree with you about Soy formula. It is indigestible and causes infertility.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soybean-fertility-hormone-isoflavones-genistein/
the childs health should come firlst
Lisa brought up good questions. Something else to consider: Maybe the mother was unable to breastfeed and that’s why her baby was on formula.
I’m pescetarian and my daughter is vegan but I have difficulty understanding how any mother would be more concerned about the ingredients in the baby’s formula than she would be about the baby’s health.
I agree with Lisa’s assessment. Baring any medical condition preventing her from doing so, I could at least see this as an option for this mother.
I presume the possibility the low weight and dehydration issue might be from another condition that would be outside the scope of a formula issue but I will defer to Annie or other medical professionals for this.
As for this case, I suppose a mitigating or aggravating factor will be how exigent the circumstances were with regard to the baby’s health.
Moreover, it says alot about a person who places their child’s health or safety in jeopardy for a political / social issue / food choice.
At what point does a vegan’s own breast milk stop becoming an animal product…? Or is she saying her breast milk isn’t healthy for her baby, either…?