CONCORD, N.H. — Vermont’s child welfare agency has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the state routinely targets and tracks pregnant women deemed unsuitable for motherhood.
The Department for Children and Families filed the request Monday, two months after it was sued by a woman who claims the state secretly investigated her when she was pregnant and won custody of her daughter before the baby was born. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and the Pregnancy Justice advocacy group, seeks both an end to what it calls an illegal surveillance program and unspecified monetary damages for the woman, who is identified only by her initials, A.V.
According to the complaint, the director of a homeless shelter where A.V. briefly stayed in January 2022 told the child welfare agency that she appeared to have untreated paranoia, dissociative behaviors and post-traumatic stress disorder. The state opened an investigation and later spoke to the woman’s counselor, midwife and hospital social worker. The suit alleges the state received updates from the hospital and won temporary custody of the fetus while she was in labor and then immediately took the baby away when she was born.
According to the lawsuit, the state had no jurisdiction before the baby was born, an argument the state rebuts in its filing.
“DCF is tasked with the difficult and delicate task of balancing the need to protect children from potential abuse and neglect against disruptions to families,” wrote Assistant Attorney General David Groff. “Given its mission, DCF has the authority to investigate potential abuse to a soon-to-be-born child before the child is born. DCF need not wait for harm to occur after birth.”
The state argues that its family court system has exclusive jurisdiction to decide whether a child needs care or supervision, and that the plaintiff can’t relitigate custody decisions via a lawsuit. The motion neither confirms nor denies the existence of a “pregnancy calendar” used to track women, but says A.V. lacks standing to challenge it because she was never part of such a calendar and doesn’t claim to have been.
The lawsuit also names the hospital where the woman gave birth and a counseling center where she sought treatment as defendants. Lund, the counseling center, has also filed a motion to dismiss the case. In its response to the suit, Copley Hospital said it cooperated with the state’s investigation as required under state law. The hospital denied that it illegally disclosed confidential medical information about A.V. or that it routinely collects and disseminates sensitive information about pregnant patients.