Following weeks of public pressure, Baby Mila will be reunited with her parents, Rodney and Temecia Jackson, after Dallas-area authorities took the newborn from them based on their pediatrician’s complaint to Child Protective Services.
“Public pressure and illuminating violations of our most fundamental rights works,” Marsha Jones, executive director of Dallas reproductive justice center The Afiya Center, said in a statement to Jezebel. “Mila is finally on her way back where she belongs. But this never should have happened in the first place. Systemic racism is the reason why Mila was separated from her family. Period. While the Jacksons finally get moments of needed rest and joy, we’ll keep fighting against the criminalization of Black parents, children, and midwives because NO ONE should live through this nightmare. The Jackson family won’t get justice until the healthcare providers, CPS workers, DeSoto police officers, Dallas constables, and every other person who allowed Mila to be taken from her family is held accountable.”
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In March, the Jacksons opted for a home birth with a licensed midwife. Mila developed jaundice, a common condition in newborns that shows in the yellowing of skin and whites of the eyes. When the parents took Mila to their pediatrician (the pair have two sons), the doctor recommended in-patient treatment at a hospital. The Jacksons said they would be doing the phototherapy treatment at home under the guidance of their midwife, Cheryl Edinbyrd.
According to the letter Bhatt wrote to CPS, Bhatt said he was concerned that the parents had the wrong lights. He ultimately reported them “after trying 10 attempts to appeal to the family through phone calls, text messages and leaving voicemails as they did not pick up the phone.”
In his letter, he cited the Jacksons’ apparent wariness of the medical industrial complex—which, to be clear, is a well-founded fear. Black maternal mortality rates are disproportionately high in America and hospitals are known to discount Black women’s pain. Even the Jacksons’ pediatrician acknowledged their fear and noted that they were “very loving” parents to their newborn daughter.
“Parents are very loving and they care dearly about their baby,” Bhatt wrote in the letter. “Their distrust for medical care and guidance has led them to make a decision for the baby to refuse a simple treatment that can prevent brain damage.”
The Afiya Center, the Dallas organization spearheading efforts to get Mila returned to her parents, said that Mila is just one of many children adversely affected by the child wellfare system. “Mila isn’t the first Black baby to be unjustly ripped away from her family, and she won’t be the last one—unless fundamental changes are made to the child welfare and criminal justice systems,” D’Andra Willis, birth justice coordinator at The Afiya Center, said in a statemen. “We need people to understand reproductive justice and freedom also means families have a right to choose when and how they want to parent. This includes informed decision making, culturally sensitive care and choosing birth and postpartum support plans that meet their specific needs.”
Pregnancy Justice, which offered pro bono legal services to the Jackson’s legal counsel, said the system was “weaponized” against the Jacksons.
“We are relieved that the Jackson family will be reunited, but that doesn’t undo the harm,” said Pregnancy Justice staff attorney Emma Roth.
The rally in Dallas scheduled for later on Thursday is now cancelled so the Jacksons can reunite as a family.
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