From an article in the Associated Press, "Teacher Won't Keep Baby In Prison"
discussing the pregnancy of Mary Kay Letourneau
<snip>
<<``It (would) be good for her frame of mind to have the baby with her for
<<something like six months,'' attorney David Gehrke told the Seattle Post-
<<Intelligencer. ``She is looking forward to breast-feeding.''

<<But prison policy calls for inmates to be separated from their children
<<not long after birth, officials said Monday.

<<``We do not have accommodations for babies,'' Patricia Wachtel, spokes-
<<woman for the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy.
<<``Nobody has ever brought their baby back.''>>
<snip>

Lets NOT get into a discussion about this case in particular.  There are
obvious problems in this case WAY, WAY beyond breastfeeding issues.
However, the statement ``Nobody has ever brought their baby back,'' hit me
like a wet slap.  I find it appalling that women in prison cannot keep their
babies.  In some cases it might not  be the best thing for the baby to be with
the mom but, how can we hope to rehabilitate or help make the next generation
better by placing these children in foster care until mom gets out of prison?

Off of the social ills soapbox
Marie Davis