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  • Women Now Need To Buy ‘Rape Insurance’ If They Want Abortion Covered

    Texas women have to pay extra insurance premiums if they forsee being victimized and needing an abortion

    Women in Texas will now have to buy additional insurance policies for coverage if they think they might need an abortion some time in the next year. If that sounds absurd to you, it’s because it is. Who the hell plans to have an abortion? No one.


    The ban signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, applies to insurance plans on the exchanges by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and also any plans sponsored by employers or purchased on the private market. A plan would only be allowed to cover an abortion if the pregnant woman had a life-threatening health emergency.


    The additional insurance a woman would need to purchase should she have a crystal ball and predict that she needs an abortion has been dubbed “rape insurance,” because it’s essentially forcing women to forsee being sexually assaulted and victimized, or their kids. It’s forcing them to pay extra for a horrific experience, just as a precaution. Can you imagine being faced with deciding whether or not to plan for your daughter being raped because it may be cheaper in the long run by doing so?


    “Women and parents will be faced with the horrific decision of having to purchase ‘rape insurance’ to cover them if they are victimized,” Democratic Representative Chris Turner said in a statement reported by Reuters last week. “This is not only ridiculous, but it is cruel.”


    It was an intensely debated bill and one that will severely impact the women who need abortions, especially women with lower income.


    “It will impact people who have coverage and will now be denied services,” Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas says, according to U.S. News & World Report. “So regardless of how big that number is, people who have health coverage should be able to get the services they need.”


    The bill came about because right-wing legislators and advocates in the state said they were forced against their will to help fund abortions because they happened to be taking part in a health insurance system that covers them.



     

    “As a firm believer in Texas values I am proud to sign legislation that ensures no Texan is ever required to pay for a procedure that ends the life of an unborn child,” Abbott said in a statement. “This bill prohibits insurance providers from forcing Texas policyholders to subsidize elective abortions. I am grateful to the Texas legislature for getting this bill to my desk, and working to protect innocent life this special session.”

    Texas is one of 25 states that limit coverage of abortion under the ACA, aka Obamacare, but at least 13 have exceptions for rape and incest victims, according to the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute. It’s horrific enough that legislators want to literally strip away the rights women won through Roe v. Wade. But it is downright sickening when reckless and thoughtless politicians don’t even think or consider exceptions for rape or incest victims. It’s reprehensible. Which is why activists have already filed lawsuits in Texas and are currently trying to figure out their next move.


    “I’m not sure what the strategy might be moving forward,” Busby says. “We already have two pending lawsuits now in Texas, so it’s just more of our tax dollars defending laws that deny people health care.”


    The fact is this: women don’t plan to have abortions. They don’t make their five year plans and say to themselves OK this year I’m going to have an abortion, and the year after that I’ll have two. No, just NO. Needing one and getting one is an extremely personal and emotional choice, one that Republicans apparently think is made lightly. Apart from that, women should not be forced to quantify their reasons for needing one. MY BODY, MY CHOICE means something. It’s a right women fought long and hard for, and the more we allow lawmakers to add stipulations and exceptions to that right, the closer we get to losing control over our reproductive freedom.

  • Parents Abandon Baby With ‘Disfigured’ Face, But Look At Him 30 Now

    Treacher Collins syndrome is a genetic disorder affecting 1 in every 50,000 people. It changes how bone and tissues of the face develop, generally affecting cheekbones, jaws, and chins in particular.

    Treacher Collins syndrome results in facial abnormalities, but it does not affect a child’s intelligence. So, when it comes to getting bullied, these kids are aware of exactly what is going on.


    Jono Lancaster is probably the most famous person with Treacher Collins syndrome.

    During the 2015 NORD Breakthrough Summit, Jono explained, “I was born with a genetic condition that affects my facial features. I have no cheekbones, and so my eyes dip down. I love my little ears, they don’t get cold at night. But I do need hearing aids.


    He currently has 12.4k Twitter followers, 61.2k Instagram followers, and a whopping 84.4k followers on Facebook but he’s also had an extremely challenging life.


    Thirty-six hours after he was born, Jono was given up by his biological parents because of the way he looked. At the 2015 Nord Conference, he explained:

    “When I was born, [my birth parents] were in total shock. I was out of the hospital 36 hours after I was born. Social services found someone to look after me. The foster carer was a lady called Jean.”



    Jean labored to reconnect Jono with his biological parents, but her letters were returned unanswered, and on May 18th, 1990, Jean adopted Jono herself.

    Despite having found a loving guardian, growing up was hard for Jono. In an interview with Adelaide Now, Jono says:

    “I kind of felt like I was on my own, and I felt like I was the only one out in the world that was like me. People are lucky enough to win the lottery or they become professional footballers, doctors, lawyers, but, why did I have to end up looking like this?”


    Feeling alone had a profound effect on Jono, who now travels all around the world, visiting children affected by various disabilities.


    Not only has Juno managed to become a source of hope and inspiration for ‘differently abled’ children around the world, he has also—shockingly, to some— managed to find love in a beautiful blonde named Laura.


    The couple has recently bought a house in Normanton, West Yorkshire, where Jono works with individuals with autism, and continues being an inspiration to people everywhere.


    BBC actually made a documentary starring Jocko, called Love Me, Love My Face. It covers his story and chronicles him attempting to reconnect with his biological parents.

  • Government Screwing Over The Disabled

    A man named Vince Paul Rodgers took to Facebook to express his upset and disgust with his wives disability payments being stopped.

    Rodgers said:

    *Please share the life out of this*

    To all who know me and know my wife Julie, the Government have in their wisdom taken Julie off her employment and support allowance due to an oversight on my behalf and now has been given her P45 to start looking for a job/work. 
    Julie is a tetraplegic due to hypoxic brain damage and can’t do anything for herself. Julie will be attending the job centre on Monday morning after the miracle worker has been and rid her of her disabilities.

    * for some who are wondering what my oversight was it is as follows………… I received the letter asking for Julie to attend an interview……….I put that letter in a safe place and on the morning of the interview I forgot all about it, I received a letter to explain why she didn’t attend, so I told the truth and said that I had forgotten, they sent out a reply stating that they were not accepting my reason and removed Julie from her benefit, I appealed for the decision to be changed and a new interview to take place, yesterday I received there reply that they were sticking to the original decision and removed Julies benefits. *
    * update – update – update *

    Julie and I attended the Job Centre this morning with a reporter Rochelle Hughes from Selby Times, I take my hat off to the staff and manager at Selby job centre after seeing Julie was unfit for work they managed to get in touch with the DWP to resolve the matter in hand, in a nutshell they have reinstated Julies benefits, but Julie still has to do a face to face interview/Assessment with the powers to be to see if she’s still able to work 😳😳😳, awaiting the appointment letter now. 

  • New Netflix Cartoon Is Sick And Not Suitable For Children 

    To the people at Netflix,

    One of your trailers came across my Facebook newsfeed today that has left me enraged. With a constant stream of news, shares, posts, and pictures, it is easy to keep scrolling, passively taking it all in. But, the content of this video is so obscene and deeply troubling to my spirit that, as a parent, I simply cannot remain passive about it.

    What is it you may ask? It is the Netflix produced cartoon series entitled Big Mouth that is slated for release on September 29, 2017. Like most mothers, my first thought was, “How bad can a cartoon be?” Well, how naïve I was! Ten seconds into the two-minute trailer aimed at our sons and daughters entering puberty turned my stomach in ways I have never felt before. It was repulsive.

    ​

    Those two minutes were filled with the most sexually perverse content I have ever seen. The stars who voice the characters on this show, which is being marketed as a “raunchy, coming-of-age comedy,” say themselves that it is “filthy.”


    Whoa! Guess what Netflix? I have a coming-of-age teenager and you have just stepped on this mama bear’s toes. Now, listen to me roar!


    Your creative team who sat around the drawing board while sharing their personal stories of teenage sexual dysfunction (which I read was the inspiration behind the storyline) will not cast their dysfunctional, moral corruptness onto my children’s young, impressionable minds. Your twisted and warped humor is not funny. It is dangerous.


    Do you know that images are branded into our consciousness? Yep, I bet you do. In fact, you are probably banking on it. What goes in through our eyes can never be unseen.


    You, dear Netflix, with 100 million subscribers, have a moral obligation to protect the eyes of the innocent. Instead, you create programs like this that are full of debauchery and hedonism with the high hopes that these images will imbed themselves into the curious minds of children, gaining you loyal customers for life. Capture them in a dark bedroom while their parents are busy. When asked what they are watching, they’ll reply, “Just a cartoon.” Pretty sneaky of you.



    You have sunk to the lowest common denominator with this one. Your widely popular, suicide-glamorizing 13 Reasons Why gave me much pause and concern; this one slams on the brakes.


    You have already stolen the imaginations of our children. A whopping 80% of Americans younger than 35 have a Netflix subscription. The average child between the ages of 2 and 18 streams 1.8 hours of content per day. That’s 650 hours per year! Contrast that with the four to seven MINUTES spent playing outdoors per day. Kids watch services like yours 15 times as much as they play outdoors. Stop and chew on that for a minute.


    To you, Netflix, and all the other time-wasting, mind-wasting video platforms out there, you have, in one fell swoop, redefined childhood. Yes, despite being a gatekeeper in my home, I’m guilty of allowing you in. I’m guilty of thinking your weak parental controls are sufficient enough. I’m guilty of allowing my children to get sucked into binge-watching you. I’m guilty of throwing you in their faces so that mama can have some peace and quiet to complete other tasks. But, I thought you were innocent.


    No more! I will make it my goal to reclaim the time that you have stolen and to encourage the imaginations that you have stifled. My children have already been without you for 40 days and I’m sorry but not sorry to say you have not been missed. Even if I were entertaining the idea of turning you back on in moderation, you have just given me ample reason not to.


    Netflix, you have shown yourself to be the pusher of an agenda that I do not want my family to be any part of. You operate in the gray area where anything goes. If you are willing to go to this level of lewdness, where will you stop? Sadly, I don’t think there is a limit.


    You say, “When parents are going through their family’s entertainment spending, we want them to feel great about their Netflix bill.” Well, unless you CANCEL THIS SHOW and can all the other vile and noxious projects in your pipeline, you won’t make me feel “great” even if you give me this service for free. If you do not heed the message of this letter and the tsunami of backlash you are about to receive from all my mama bear friends, then, I’ll just warn you–Get ready 

    From A-Mama-bear


    https://youtu.be/8U11H-3j3Ho


    Credit: foreverymom.com

  • Autism And Abuse

    My name is Thomas. It is not my real name. I am using this name as I don’t want my abusers to find me.

    I am 59 years old. My mother abandoned me as a young child and I was put in a foster home and an institution. Both places abused me.

    I was diagnosed autistic aged 4. Autism then was seen as a rare form of schizophrenia and was a mental illness and they tried all they could to normalise me.

    My foster parents abused me telling me my mother should have aborted me. I stimmed (self-stimulatory behaviour),  tippy toed and screamed. They hated that. I couldn’t tolerate being touched, or noise. I was sexually abused from aged 4.

    I was then insitutionalised where physical abuse continued.

    I was forced to go onto strong meds and it did terrible things to my sensitive digestion. Psychiatrists treated me as mentally ill.

    They told me I would never be independant and treated me like a small child. Like many autistics in some ways I can be quite childlike, but I am cognitively intelligent.

    Like many autistics I often related better to objects than people. Again I was ridiculed, especially by psychiatrists. All my life I have had a close attachment to one particular object , and they tried all they could to remove that from me. That object is my Thomas The Tank Engine Ornament.


    They inflicted Lovaas ABA therapy on me.

    They forced me to stop stimming and hit me when I did.


    I love drawing, but if I drew the same picture twice in a week they yelled at me and forced me into more therapy.


    They hated my special interests. They tried to destroy all of them. Many were forced out of me and I still struggle to focus on them again.


    I was punished for lining things up.


    I was severly punished for not giving eye contact. I was kicked, hit and slapped on the face for not doing it. Eye contact was hell for me, and still is


    I did not speak until I was 11. I was punished for not speaking. I was never given other options of communication, as verbal was the only thing they cared about.


    When it ended I was offered therapy. The therapist sexually assulted me.


    Even though the abuse eventually got less, living in assisted care was still very problematic for me. Hearing people in other rooms, fire alarms going off, noises I couldn’t control. My meltdowns were very frequent due to sensory overload and I was scared I would hurt someone, or end up in prison.

    With a lot help from friends we decided I needed to live outside the city and on my own and with nature. Humans scared me, I have difficulty processing facial expressions and so can find it hard to understand what people mean. Animals however, I have a natural liking to. I was exhausted with the therapies and tired of having to adjust life to suit everyone else.

    At last, I found a wonderful therapist who taught me life skills. She let me be me, and listened to my needs. We worked with my special interests to enhance my life skills and worked on my strengths, so I could have the life I wanted and needed.

    I have now been living on my own for 17 years. In the countryside where its quiet. I now take no medication, I stim all I need, I don’t force myself to keep eye contact with people. I am managing my sensory issues with body brushing so I can hug my friends too.


    I have 4 cats who I love dearly.


    I have sensory issues with my hearing, therefore I use industrial strength head phones, that have soft cushions. Strong lights hurts my eyes, so I have dark sunblocking shades. To keep the wind from me outside, I wear a big hat.


    Routine is my life and it stops me getting too distracted. I thrive with routine, and can cope better with needed changes when I stick to these schedules. As long as the change is gradually added to my planner, over time, I can adjust.


    I only go out when I can avoid crowds, perfumes overwhelm me so I avoid any places like this.


    I can enjoy my special interests to my hearts content. I love to do artwork. 

    Occassionally memories of repression can make me feel guilty about having special interests. I love my main object, like a person would love another. My love is so deep. No one can judge me for that now. They tried so hard to humiliate me for it, but they failed. My Thomas the Tank Engine ornament always sits on my chest of drawers.

    I believe strongly that autistic people should be allowed to be themselves. Adjustments and accommodations need to be made. I try to help many families online with this. What is normal anyway? Normal is a setting on the dryer, and my normal is Autism.

  • Do You Know The Possible Effects Of The Flu Vaccine

    A lady named Sandra Gandry has taken to Facebook to warn others about the flu vaccine.

    Me: “May I please have the package insert for the flu vaccine?”

    Rite-Aid Pharmacist: “Why?”

    Me: “So I can read it.”

    P: “Which one?”

    Me: “The one advertised with the little banners on every aisle.”

    P: “I will print you the information sheet.”

    Me: “No, that’s not the same thing.”

    P: “What do you want to know? I can tell you.”

    Me: “I would just like to read the whole thing before I consider getting one…side effects, contraindications, effectiveness, ingredients like mercury.”

    P: “I don’t think I have any. Let me check. (checks) Sorry, I can’t give you one until the box is empty, because it has to stay in the box. And there isn’t any thimerisol in the single dose flu shot any more. I can print you the information sheet.”

    Pharmacy co-worker with big smile at me: “Hi, I found one.” (hands insert to P, hands to me).

    ***

    Here are some things in the insert not on the store’s sheet:

    1. The single dose vial contains mercury at ≤1mcg (This is called a “trace amount” by the industry.) (The multi-vial contains 25 mcg.)

    2. People with egg allergies are contraindicated.

    3. “Safety and effectiveness have not been established in pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under four. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. This vaccine should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed. It is not known whether fluvarin is excreted in human milk.”

    4. “Fluvarin has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential, or for impairment of fertility.”

    5. “Antibody response is low in the geriatric population.”

    6. “Serious reactions, including anaphylactic shock, have been observed.”

    7. “There are no data to assess the concomitant administration of flu vaccine with other vaccines.”

    8. “The vaccine has been associated with an increased frequency of Guillain-Barre syndrome.”

    9. “In some studies, fluvarin protected up to 50% of subjects.”
    With love to those who read this far. Please share.

  • Employees Removed After Viral Post 

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hospital employees have been removed from their post at the Naval Hospital Jacksonville after disturbing photos with newborns surfaced on social media Monday.


    The viral post shared a photo from a Snapchat account, which showed the employee giving the middle finger to a newborn, followed by a caption that read “How I currently feel about these mini Satans.” The post also read the “navy nurse” and her friend made a baby dance to rap music.


    Jeanne Casey, the Public Affairs Officer at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, released the following statement:

    “We are aware of a video/ photo posted online.  It’s outrageous, unacceptable, incredibly unprofessional, and cannot be tolerated.  We have identified the staff members involved.  They have been removed from patient care and they will be handled by the legal system and military justice.  We’re in the process of notifying the patient”s parents.”

    The statement was also posted on the Naval Hospital Jacksonville Facebook page:

  • THROUGH A RAPISTS EYES

    “THROUGH A RAPIST’S EYES”

    PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THIS.

    It may save a life.

    It seems that a lot of attackers use some tactic to get away with violence.  Not many people know how to take care of themselves when faced with such a situation. Everyone should read this especially each and every girl in this world.

    THOUGHT THIS WAS GOOD INFO TO PASS ALONG…

    Through a rapist’s eyes!  A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

    1] The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

    2] The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women whose clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors around to cut clothing.

    3] They also look for women using their cell phone, searching through their purse or doing other activities while walking because they are off guard and can be easily overpowered.

    4] The number one place women are abducted from / attacked at is grocery store parking lots.

    5] Number two is office parking lots/garages.

    6] Number three is public restrooms.

    7] The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to a second location where they don’t have to worry about getting caught.

    8] If you put up any kind of fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

    9] These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

    10] Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you’re not worth it.

    POINTS THAT WE SHOULD REMEMBER:

    1] If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: can’t believe it is so cold out here, we’re in for a bad winter. Now that you’ve seen their faces and could identify them in a line up, you lose appeal as a target.

    2] If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you and yell Stop or Stay back! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

    3] If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes,) yelling I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

    4] If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can do it by out-smarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and
    armpit or in the upper inner thigh – HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it; it really hurts.

    5] After the initial hit, always go for the groin. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause him a lot of
    trouble. Start causing trouble, and he’s out of there.

    6] When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked
    audibly.

    7] Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don’t dismiss it, and go with your instincts. You may feel little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

    FINALLY, PLEASE REMEMBER THESE AS WELL….

    I know you are smart enough to know these pointers but there will be some, where you will go “hmm I must remember that” After reading, forward it to someone you care about, never hurts to be careful in
    this crazy world we live in.

    1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do it.

    2. Learned this from a tourist guide to New Orleans: if a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you…. chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

    3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car: Kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

    4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit
    (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU CLOSE the DOORS, LEAVE!

    5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

    a. Be aware: look around your car as someone may be hiding at the passenger side, peek into your car, inside the passenger side floor, and in the back seat. (DO THIS TOO BEFORE RIDING A TAXI CAB).

    b. If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

    c. Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard /policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

    6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot).

    7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!

    8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked “for help” into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

    I’d like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it onto them, as well.

    Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it and it’s better safe than sorry.

    If you have a heart or compassion share this photo.

    WE CAN SHARE JOKES AND SPAM MAILS TO OUR FRIENDS & NETWORKS
    PLEASE FOR ONCE SHARE THIS AND LET’S TRY TO HELP THEM.

    ‘Helping hands are better than Praying Lips’ – give us your helping hand.
    SHARE IT WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

    AT LEAST PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHATS GOING IN THE WORLD.

    – author unknown

  • Child Placed Into Care For Being Breastfed 

    Single American mum Lynn Stuckey thought she was doing the right thing by letting her son Kyle wean himself off of breast feeding on his own schedule.


    But his babysitter thought differently and called a child-abuse hotline after Kyle — then 5 years old and in the first grade — allegedly said he wanted to stop breast-feeding but “Mummy wouldn’t let me.”


    Although Stuckey denied she forced her son to nurse, Illinois child-welfare officials put her son in foster care. Now, a little over two years later, Kyle is back with his mum,and still nursing occasionally, although he is 8 years old. And his mother is speaking out about the controversy.


    “I did nothing wrong with nursing him for an extended period of time,” Stuckey, 32, a part-time store clerk, said today on Good Morning America. “Kyle is my only son and he’s very important to me … and he’s going to be allowed to nurse until he decides to finish weaning himself.”


    Do Americans Have Hang-Ups?


    Back in 2000, Stuckey went on Good Morning America, although she chose to appear in shadow, and maintained there is nothing abnormal about breast-feeding an older child. Stuckey said she did not make Kyle keep breast-feeding; she wanted him to decide when the time was right to stop.


    “I never forced my child to nurse,” Stuckey said. “I did not nurse because I was gaining any sort of sexual pleasure out of this. The [Illinois] state’s attorney’s office and the Department of Children and Family Services are very incorrect and are greatly misstating my motives.”


    The state claimed that breast-feeding a first-grader was “sexual molestation,” but a family court judge disagreed. Nevertheless, the judge refused to return the boy to his mother.


    “Even though Kyle is a bright, sunny boy, he is also embarrassed and faces enormous potential emotional harm,” the judge wrote.


    His mother says the only harm to Kyle came from the six months and six days he had spent in foster care. She maintains that she was also a victim. Now, after six months of separation that included counseling and evaluations, mother and son have been reunited for a year and a half.


    Stuckey says her son, now 8, still chooses to nurse occasionally. She says he does so every 10 to 14 days, just for a few moments each time.


    Although she is not certain she is producing milk, her son says she still does occasionally, Stuckey said. And she says she sees nothing inappropriate about breast-feeding unless the child is “maybe into their teens.”


    Americans are just uncomfortable about breast-feeding, Stuckey suggested.


    “Around the world, they commonly nurse until 5, 6, sometimes even 7 and 8 years old,” she said.


    Just Like Carrying a Blankie?


    The American Academy of Pediatrics says all but 18 percent of mothers in the U.S. have weaned their child by age 1. The World Health Organization says that children breast-feeding at 2, and even 3 years old, can be seen around the world. Neither of the health organizations give a cutoff date as to when a child should be weaned.


    Diane Sanford, president of Women’s Healthcare Partnership, said that in other cultures it is not uncommon for children to nurse until they are 3 to 6 years of age.


    Sanford said Stuckey is confronting the same problem other parents have faced in different forms: Her son does not want to give up something he is used to.


    “Like with many practices, like allowing your child to suck her thumb or carry a blanket around, there reaches an age at which we really need to help our children develop more mature means for comforting themselves,” Sanford said. “However, it’s clear that Lynn is a very caring parent, who, like many parents, doesn’t want to force her child into giving up something which means so much to him.”


    Is Mother Thinking About Her Own Needs?


    Critics have said Stuckey is really serving her own needs, not Kyle’s, and should find other ways to reassure her son.


    Stuckey says that’s not the case at all.


    “You don’t nurse to serve your own needs when you’ve got a small child clawing at you because he’s so upset and wants to nurse,” she said today. “It’s not about your needs, it’s about putting your child first.”


    And she said that if the state had not gotten involved, the boy would not feel at all embarrassed.


    “I don’t think the embarrassment came in until he was taken from me and interviewed by numerous people about it because before he was taken, hardly anyone knew he was nursing,” she said.


    At the time, he nursed for about 10 minutes at night, and a little more on the weekends, she said.


    Other Ways to Make Kids Feel Secure


    Although Stuckey’s son is back in her custody, there’s still a lot of controversy about when a child should be weaned. Stuckey said she decided to go public now because she wants people to see her and her child, and realize that breast-feeding is a perfectly normal practice.


    “We are your standard, middle-class American family, and we’re not doing anything wrong,” she said. “And he’s a wonderful child. He gets along so well with his classmates at school, his teachers adore him. He’s got so many friends around our neighborhood and at our church.”


    Kyle is not teased as far as she knows, his mother said.


    Sanford said there is often a push for kids to grow up too soon, and that Stuckey is helping her son feel secure in many ways. But, said Sanford, there are alternatives.


    She said parents should have their child find other ways of relating to them, such as cuddling or reading together, or helping the child develop his own ways to relieve stress and comfort himself.


    That is all happening in good time, Stuckey contends.


    “Kyle is finding his own ways to comfort himself,” Stuckey said. “But occasionally, he still wants to nurse, and that’s fine with me.”

  • Baby dies in steamy bathroom 

    A baby died in the United States after his father left him in a steamy bathroom, in an attempt to ease his cough.
    The one-year-old, named Mordechai Halpern, woke up coughing, police told the New York Daily News.
    The boy’s father told police he gave him a bottle with water and lemon juice.

    The remedy didn’t work, so he placed the boy in his stroller, covered him with a blanket and turned on the hot water.
    When she woke up 90 minutes, later the boy’s mother found the baby unconscious.
    Halpern was rushed to a New York hospital, where he was pronounced dead in minutes.
    His body temperature when he died was 108F degrees (42C), sources told the New York Daily News.
    Police did not think the father meant to harm his son, sources said.
    An autopsy will be held to determine the baby’s cause of death.