THE PLIGHT OF JUSTINA PELLETIER

"So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." (Acts 5:41)

Despite Mr. Lou Pelletier's appearances on television and radio shows over the past few weeks, you may not have heard about this.  The Pelletier family is from West Hartford, CT.  I do not know them personally.  Their teenage daughter, Justina, suffers from mitochondrical disease.  The Pelletiers were taking her for treatment to Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston.  On February 14, 2013, doctors at Tufts sent her to Children's to see a physician they'd highly recommended.  But Justina never got to see that physician.  A psychiatrist intercepted the situation, was convinced that the teenager's illness was psychosomatic and that the parents were doing harm to her; and reported this to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families who took custody of Justina.  Since that time, the Pelletiers have had only minimal visits and contacts with Justina.  She's currently in a locked facility in Framingham, MA.  The medical diagnosis and concerns of doctors from Tufts New England Medical Center have been ignored.  Justina has been given no treatment for her mitochondrical disease for months.  She could die.  A number of people in the media have publicly spoken out in favor of the Pelletiers including Glenn Beck, Dr. Phil McGraw, Michael Graham of WCRN radio in Worcester, MA and Dan Rea of WBZ radio in Boston, MA.  This week, Massachusetts Judge Joseph Johnston ruled against the Pelletiers and for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Famlies- allowing them to continue custody of Justina Pelletier.  I've been very bothered by this case for many reasons.  Perhaps it's my "marching to the beat of a different drummer" personality; perhaps it's because in the past as a pastor, I "fought city hall", and honestly it took quite a toll on me.  The Pelletiers are very religious people.  They're Roman Catholic and so we'd have some differences, but from everything I've seen and heard of them, they're very much, "God and country" kind of people.  The poem below is a take-off of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride".  The poem has a happy ending.  This story does not currently have a happy ending, but I believe it people will pray and people will speak out about this, things will change. there will be a miracle, and there will be a happy ending.

JUSTINA PELLETIER’S PLIGHT By Bob Baril
(take-off of Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear
Of the terrible plight of Justina Pelletier,
‘Twas the fourteenth of February, in Twenty-thirteen;
Wrongly did institution and state intervene
And tarnish that Valentine’s Day in said year.
They said to her folks, ‘We decree what’s best
By clinic and court in Boston-town to-night,
Hang your parenting up
Give your daughter to the custody of D.C.F’s light,—
One: understand, and two, you will see;
And we qualfied experts, her parents will be,
Exerting our influence, and indeed doing harm
Maligning Lou and Linda, but we do so with charm,
And as for your rights, why we’ll cut off your arms.’

And the parents said, ‘No way!’ and with a mighty roar
Proclaimed word to Glenn Beck, Dr. Phil and more,
But the state claimed victory on a dark March day,
Judge Johnston upheld their depressing ways
Yet the citizens, mobilized for this culture war;
Just a few, ordinary ones with rapt attention in their cars
Across the world like a shining star,
A huge army rose, in civic pride
By who, true right was magnified.

Meanwhile, watchmen, through Facebook and phone,
Wandered and watched with eager ears,
Till politicians were stunned by cheers
The muster of men at the church house door,
The sound of prayers, and the vigils proclaiming,
And the lives to be saved they were gaining,
Never to hang their heads nor be silent any more.
So through their pain the Pelletiers;
And all their supporters with cries of alarm
To every American village and farm,—
A cry of faith and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the pain of great suffering and loss,
Citing our history and the ways of the past,
In their hour of darkness and peril and need,
Led people to waken and listen and hear
Restore a family and bring blessings, indeed
From the terrible plight of Justina Pelletier.