Vermont’s child welfare agency, the Department for Children and Families, has filed a request to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the state unlawfully targets and tracks pregnant women considered unfit for motherhood. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Vermont and the Pregnancy Justice advocacy group on behalf of a woman identified as A.V. The complaint alleges that the state investigated A.V. while she was pregnant, ultimately obtaining custody of her daughter before the baby was born.
The state argues that it has the authority to investigate potential abuse of an unborn child and does not have to wait for harm to occur after birth. They claim that the family court system has exclusive jurisdiction over such matters, and the plaintiff cannot challenge custody decisions through a lawsuit.
The lawsuit also names a counseling center and the hospital where A.V. gave birth as defendants. The counseling center, Lund, has also filed a motion to dismiss. In response to the suit, Copley Hospital denied illegally disclosing confidential medical information about A.V. or routinely collecting and disseminating sensitive information about pregnant patients.
The lawsuit seeks to put an end to what it describes as an illegal surveillance program targeting pregnant women and seeks unspecified monetary damages for A.V. The state, in its filing, neither confirms nor denies the existence of a “pregnancy calendar” used to track women, but argues that A.V. lacks standing to challenge it as she was never part of such a calendar.
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