Vegans Win Return of Children; Criminal Trial to Follow
Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn, the vegan parents whose children were summarily removed from them after the death of their infant daughter by birth defect 28 months ago, will soon reunite with their surviving children, a Florida juvenile court judge has ruled. Judge William Thomas specifically held that the State of Florida failed to prove manslaughter in the death of 5 1/2 month old Woyah Andressohn. He further found that the Andressohns do not pose a threat of future harm to their surviving children. They now await the outcome of their criminal trial.
This juvenile court decision stands for the proposition that a vegan diet is legally sufficient for feeding children. While the judge expressed misgivings about a raw food diet, he did not hear sufficient evidence on that point. The criminal case will explore the sufficiency of that diet in greater detail.
While this victory is cause for celebration for the parents, the conflict continues. A criminal conviction would undermine the value of the juvenile court's decision and enable the State to revisit its attempt to terminate the Andressohn's parental rights. However, it could be argued that such a conviction would not change the conclusion that the parents do not pose a prospective threat to their children. A conviction might also subject them to lengthy jail terms.
People of conscience, concerned that the State has over-reached in this matter, should support the Andressohns now more than ever. A criminal conviction on these charges will set the precedent that feeding a child a raw food (or possibly a cooked food) vegan diet is actionable criminal conduct.
The defense team has spent ten months preparing its defense and has hired multiple expert witnesses to prove the point that Baby Woyah Andressohn died of an impaired immune system which caused her failure to thrive, and not from starvation as the State has charged. Indeed, she lived much longer than doctors had predicted, probably due to her healthy raw vegan diet.
In statements to the media, the prosecution continues to mischaracterize the child's death as starvation when it has become abundantly clear that Woyah was regularly fed a nutritionally sufficient home-made formula.
If you have children and feed them a vegan or raw food diet, the outcome of this case matters to you. Don't stand aside and judge the Andressohns; contribute and pray that they win, or you may be next. Donate at http://www.rawfriends.com.
- Thanks to Steven Gibb for all he's done to keep this issue in front of the public, even as the media distorts and buries it. In addition,thanks also for the thousands of dollars he has raised to help support the family. For the backstory on the Andressohn case visit CreativeHealth.us/news and do a text search on "Andressohn."
- From Dr. Ann's long-time assistant, Dr. Flora van Orden III - "I'm supposed to be a witness at Lamoy and Joe's trial. The judge has ordered them to feed their baby a cooked food vegan diet. This is the craziest thing I have ever heard of."
- All about raising a veg*n baby and kids: http://www.vegetarianbaby.com.
