Lindsay Clancy failed her kids because the system failed her | Your Turn

Lindsay Clancy's trial has been as wrenching and complicated as the heartbreaking events that led to it. It has also divided the country – and readers – on what justice could possibly look like in an impossibly tragic case that resulted in the deaths of three young children.

Clancy's weekslong murder trial centered not on whether the mother of three was her children's killer – she has never denied she was. Instead, jurors were tasked with deciding whether postpartum psychosis and the medical system that seemingly failed to treat her could mitigate her criminal responsibility.

The case ended in a mistrial on Sept. 4 after a jury could not unanimously agree on a verdict, apparently split 11-1 in favor of finding her not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility.

So we asked you, our readers, to grapple with these questions of justice, our health care system, and of maternity and responsibility, too. See a collection of your responses below. For more opportunities to weigh in with your takes on the news, visit usatoday.com/forum, leave us a voicemail at (202) 655-3923 or drop us a note at forum@usatoday.com.

Our health system failed Lindsay Clancy and her children

I have watched every second of Lindsay Clancy's trial live. I also work in women's health and have for 14 years.

Clancy should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. She was a loving, devoted mother who was begging for help. The prosecution is hung up on doubts that she heard voices, but I assure you that is quite common. She was failed over and over again, which in turn led to her children being failed as well. As a wife and mother, I can promise you that if I told my husband I was having suicidal ideation, he would not leave me alone to care for myself, let alone our three children. This case is full of reasonable doubt, at the very least.

The changes that occur in the female body during and after childbirth are not a matter of opinion. This country has a serious mental health crisis, and postpartum depression is a major part of that.

A loving and devoted wife and mother does not wake up one day and just decide to strangle her three children and then attempt to take her own life. She was absolutely 100% out of her mind. The sobs that I heard in that courtroom can not be faked. Those are the sobs of a mother who failed her children because the health care system failed her.

There are absolutely people who should be held criminally responsible for the death of these three children, and the majority of those individuals are still practicing medicine. That should be the headline.

There should be mental health providers on staff at every emergency room, and if you are seeking mental help, you should never be turned away. It is hard enough to ask for help one time. Can you imagine having to ask over and over and over again and still not be taken seriously?

I think women, especially mothers, feel deeply saddened by what occurred. I think the fact that people are saying they do or do not "believe" in postpartum depression is absurd.

- Lauren Potter, Alabama

Don't confuse mental illness with manipulation

I believe Clancy should be found guilty of the deaths of her three children.

Psychosis is being used to manipulate everyone. In reality, anyone who kills is not in a normal state of mind.

Women used to bear children in their homes, without the luxury of a hospital, and they were doing fine. I believe Clancy didn't want the responsibility of her children anymore, and she didn't want her husband raising them, especially without her. Because she was a nurse, she knew how to avoid being taken for involuntary examination under the Baker Act. She is a danger to herself and others.

I think this case became a social flash because people like me brought attention to this woman by commenting on her, as we noticed how manipulative she is. The media and public messed up by letting postpartum psychosis be confused with psychopathic behavior. This increases the risk of a chain reaction with unstable parents, for violence toward their children, rather than finding ways to work out financial and emotional problems.

- Leah Devorah, Florida

Other countries have found ways to help women like Clancy

A postpartum medical crisis happened to someone I knew more than 10 years ago. Because of her mental state, within days she was taken to a special unit for women with that problem, spending two months there. The baby joined her after two weeks. The care was excellent. When they decided to have a second child a few years later, she was put on antipsychotics for the final month of pregnancy, then transferred to the same unit for observation for a short time after giving birth. There were no further problems, just a happy family with two delightful boys.

Mental illness should not be criminalized. This woman was not getting the help she needed.

It would help if postpartum psychosis, reportedly occurring in as many as 1 in 500 births, were better known about, and if mental illness were seen as a real illness, not a moral failing. My relative was lucky to live in a large city in Europe, not far from a regional postpartum psychosis center. I have not heard of anything similar in the United States. It is surely needed.

- Margaret Hagood, Colorado

The juror who held out in Clancy's trial is a hero

I followed the trial, and I am sick about it. My heart aches for the three innocent babies strangled at the hands of the person they had no choice but to love, trust and rely on for everything.

A mother's love and instinct to love and protect her children is so strong that I believe she killed them for selfish reasons. I would have been a holdout as a juror, too, and I am so proud of the one holdout. That person is a hero.

People suffer from alcoholism, depression, anxiety and drug dependence, and if we allow all of those issues to relieve you of all responsibility of your crimes, God help us all. Most everyone I know with depression and/or anxiety is also a narcissist; they cannot put anyone else above themselves.

I do not think motherhood is so hard that we need support from our health care system. I am a mother of three, and it was the most rewarding and wonderful experience in life. When you are taking care of your children, you get out of yourself and don't think about every little thing and make it a problem. Only the children who have mothers with these issues need support.

I believe that mental illness has become fashionable. Everyone has anxiety or depression, and too many are on medications. The women championing a killer relate to her weaknesses, but that has nothing to do with the killings she committed.

- Peggy Demetrius, Pennsylvania

This is not a good time to have a mental illness

There isn't enough help or even understanding in Clancy's case. We need to do better. With President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge, women will be afraid to ask for help. This is not a good time to have a mental illness

Social media turned this case into a wildfire. It has shaped the case and allowed people to express themselves, leading to false information and bullying. It's been a nightmare. We have laid bare all our rage. I think it hit a nerve that not even politics could hit. It has pitted gender against gender. The victims and people involved no longer matter; it's people wanting their opinion to be right. We all need to do better.

- Leah Goff, Florida

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lindsay Clancy failed her kids because the system failed her | Your Turn

Reporting by Opinion Forum, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 3:03 AM.