The Backlash Against Massachusetts' Postpartum Home Visit Plan Is

It took all of one news cycle for the Lindsay Clancy tragedy to become a line item in the state budget. Maura Healey announced that new parents will get a “free” nurse home visit, and the government will update mental health screening rules. We are supposed to be moved by the gesture. Instead, we are asking why the state didn’t notice a woman drowning before she became a headline. This is tragedy as a spending opportunity.

No one is against checking on a new mom. But this plan treats a failed system by making it bigger. Clancy was reportedly under psychiatric care, and still the warning signs were missed. Send a nurse once and call it wellness? That’s accountability in reverse — more taxpayer money, no one responsible for what actually happened. The same bureaucrats who missed the red flags get to write new regulations and hire more staff.

Massachusetts could ask why families today are so isolated, why the pressure on new parents keeps climbing, or what happened to the people who saw Clancy in the weeks before. Instead, Healey offers a photo-op visit and a pat on the head. That might make the governor’s office feel better. It won’t do much for the next mother who needs real help and not a government checklist.