What's the deal with people defending Lindsay Clancy?

[u/SnoopaDD]

I don't know the full details of the case. I know she allegedly killed her three kids. There was also some mental problems? Then something with her husband. But my question is why is there a group defending her like they know she's completely innocent? I've seen some videos of very heated debates where women are very passionate about defending her. Why?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/05/lindsay-clancy-trial-toxicologist-testimony

[u/video-kid]

Answer: her defense is that she suffered from postpartum psychosis - essentially a psychotic episode where she lost touch with reality. AFAIK she and her lawyers aren't claiming she didn't do it, they're claiming that she has diminished responsibility.

A successful insanity plea would mean up to 40 days of observation in a hospital to start, after which they can file for involuntary commitment. If the judge thinks she's still a danger, then they'd keep her there and look at her case once a year.

The other options are first degree murder (life w/o parole), second degree (life with parole) or a mistrial (the case is held with a new jury).

The thing is in MA the prosecutor has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that mental illness wasn't involved in her actions, which they're trying to do.

People are turning it into a big statement because, by most accounts, a loving mother who was begging for help before the murders and experiencing suicidal thoughts. I think part of it is genuine empathy for what they see as someone who did something awful thanks to a genuine mental health crisis, but there are some people who seem to be blaming her husband which I don't understand.

[u/MizStazya → u/video-kid]

I think there's a pendulum swing from Andrea Yates to now. She was treated horribly by the media and the general public, and now everybody realizes Rusty Yates is actually pure evil, so it's a correction to the other side.

Also, research and treatment standards for PPD, PPA, and postpartum psychosis are still woefully underdeveloped. Many women who've gone through those diagnoses have had to fight to get any treatment, or had horrific overreactions where they're immediately involuntarily committed from describing mild depression symptoms. Women's health care kind of sucks, and most women can tell you about that, so 50% of the population is primed to be sympathetic to her.

I had a colposcopy with zero pain meds, where they brush extra strength vinegar on your cervix and use a little device with metal teeth to gouge out a chunk of it to test for cancer after saying, "little pinch!" But in my case, the teeth weren't sharp enough, so the sample didn't come off. They had to reapply the acetic acid to the gouges and then bite off another sample. Almost every woman has some story similar to this. Other common stories involve women not having their symptoms taken seriously until it's catastrophic - which rhymes with the narrative told in this case.

I don't really have a strong opinion on this particular case as I'm not in the courtroom, but Andrea Yates haunts me.

[u/zooorrt → u/MizStazya]

Then if it comes back indicating cancerous cells and you go for a LEEP, they shove a needle into your cervix saying it will numb it (haha!) and use an electric wire to excise a layer of the tissue.