Andrea Yates

[KarlaB]

(Wasn't sure where to put this, so I chose the Debate forum to be safe.)



What do you think?

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/keye/20010904/lo/background_on_yates_reveals_suicide_attempts_1.html

If this info is true, I think it's sad (not that the case isn't sad enough already) that they went ahead and had more children knowing what they knew. :(

[Lynda/WA]

I think that if you put yourself in an unreasonably risky situation and things go bad you should be held accountable. In other words, she knew better than anyone that she was losing control prior to the last set of problems after her daughter was born. I am more sympathetic when someone has problems one time and doesn't realize it then when someone repeatedly has problems, knows it, yet continues to put people at risk.

I'm not so sure just how much I buy into her defense anyways. After DS was born I went a little crazy. I can remember walking around holding him while he was screaming and imagining just dropping him and going to bed. There were times I put him to bed, sut the door, and left him cry for 15 minutes while I got a better grip on myself. Even though I imagined hurting him I never did. If I couln't have gotten better control of myself I would have called someone to come get him and keep him safe. I find it impossible to believe that a mother from a religous family wouldn't have known, no matter how depressed and crazy she felt, that she could have called her pastor. And this wasn't even a momentary overpowering urge to hurt her kids either. She chased one of the children around the house. I can't believe that her child screaming *please, mommy don't hurt me* (guessing what he said) couldn't have penetrated whatever she was thinking. Isn't she pregant again?