GUEST: MISSY ROEPNACK, Christian Writer and Teacher

On January 24, 2023, Lindsay Clancy, a former labor-and-delivery nurse in Massachusetts, sent her husband out for some errands, and while he was away, took their three children—Cora (5), Dawson (3), and Callan (8 months)—into the basement and one by one strangled them to death.

Fast forward to this year and the recent murder trial for Lindsay Clancy. Women in pink shirts amassed outside the courthouse day after day, not to demand justice for Clancy’s three children, but to cheer her on and urge acquital.

But why? The surface reason is that Lindsay was suffering from mental illness where she was not able to understand what she was doing. Postpartum depression and possibly antidepressants caused a “psychotic break” to occur. Thus, the “I am Lindsay” supporters outside the courthouse and around the country emphasized that this poor woman was a victim who should be acquitted rather than be found culpable for murder.

The jury deliberated and finally submitted their verdict: Eleven of twelve voted to acquit Lindsay Clancy of murder while just one held firm that she should be held accountable. Because of a non-unanimous verdict, the case ended in a mistrial.

So what does the Lindsay Clancy case say about our justice system and the worldview of our society? How is the “second victim” narrative employed for women who murder their children or abort their unborn babies?

Missy Roepnack is the mother of nine children and has spent years doing sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics. Missy recently wrote a series of articles on the Lindsay Clancy case, one of which appears in the Sept-Oct 2026 of The Christian Worldview Journal. She joins us to discuss the worldview at play in this case that has drawn national attention.