Massachusetts Gov. Healey Proposes $2 Million Postpartum Plan After Clancy Trial
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced a new $2 million plan on Tuesday to fund nurse visits for new parents. This proposal follows the high-profile murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, who killed her three children in 2023. The case ended in a mistrial because jurors could not agree on a verdict.
Healey said the state needs to support families before a crisis happens. "To every mom who has struggled with her mental health before, during or after pregnancy, I want you to know we see you — I see you," Healey told reporters. She spoke at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center while outlining her new ideas.
Under the new plan, families with newborns can get free home visits from a nurse. The nurse would check on feeding, sleep, and the mother's mental health. Healey plans to ask lawmakers to approve the $2 million funding for this program. This money would help the roughly 68,000 babies born in Massachusetts each year.
The program is voluntary, so no family has to take part. Healey also wants to spend $250,000 on a psychiatric access program for mothers. "We need to talk more openly about this," she said. The governor noted that her 2024 law already required insurance to cover depression screenings.
Lindsay Clancy strangled her daughter Cora, 5, and son Dawson, 3, inside their Duxbury home. She also tried to suffocate her baby son, Callan, who was 8 months old. Clancy then tried to kill herself by jumping from a second-floor window. She is now paralyzed from the waist down.
Her lawyers argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis and could not be held responsible. Prosecutors said she knew her actions were wrong. The jury could not reach a unanimous decision on whether she was guilty. A judge declared a mistrial when the deadlocked jury could not decide.
Curtis Hill wrote in Townhall that the defense failed to prove her mental state. He argued that being a mother is not a license to kill. "it is unthinkable that a mother could kill her own children, so she must not have known what she was doing." Hill said this belief is not the legal test for insanity.
Healey's proposal now goes to the state legislature for a vote. Lawmakers must decide if they will fund the nurse visit program. The current federal program only helps about 3,000 families each year.