The Lindsay Clancy case was discussed on Bill Maher’s HBO show last week, and it wasn’t his usual bits. It was a serious segment. There’s nothing funny at all about this story — it’s tragic, horrific, and filled with crackpots. That’s what Maher noted: why does she have fans? He had a good moniker for it, adding “it’s a little like Luigi [Mangione].” 

We’re learning a lot about postpartum depression and psychosis, and fear of women reporting their symptoms and having their kids taken away. Maher noted that it is more common than most things, maybe, but also most don’t kill their kids. Of course, Molly Jong-Fast brought up her paralysis as a get-out-of-jail-free card. So what? Clancy became paralyzed from the waist down after killing her three young kids with exercise bands in January 2023. She slashed her wrists and jumped out of a window.

Maher added that he sees many women on TikTok whining about being a mom and not wanting to be one, frustrated with the daily routine and what comes with parenthood. No, after having kids, you can’t go out all the time until 4 AM anymore:

BILL MAHER: “I just want to ask — this woman Lindsay Clancy, she killed her three children because she had postpartum depression. What I learned is that this is a very prevalent thing. It’s very real. I absolutely don’t think she knew what she was doing. I get that. What I don’t get is why does she have fans? There are so many women now who are, like, outside the courthouse. It’s a little like Luigi. I understand the frustration. Don’t understand why the fans. And is it just because this has been a cause célèbre that has gone under the radar for so long?”

MOLLY JONG-FAST: “So my guess is that postpartum psychosis, which is what she had, is very real. I mean, it’s not so common, but it happens. And I think that a lot of women — this has sort of brought up postpartum psychosis as a topic.

“The reporting on this story is horrific. Like, she keeps putting herself in mental institutions. She goes to McLean. She’s a labor and delivery nurse. So if there ever were a person who knows about postpartum care, it would be her. In the reporting, it says she doesn’t want to report how bad her symptoms are because she’s worried she’s going to lose her kids. It is one of the worst stories ever. And in my mind — you know, she’s paralyzed now. And so she’s in this wheelchair. I’m not sure that the courts are the answer to a problem like that.”

MAHER: “Okay, but if we move away from just this extreme version... not a lot of women go to the length of killing their kid, but a lot of them are not afraid to say, ‘I don’t like being a mom.’ They put up TikToks just talking about it, and they seem to be just frustrated with what... mothers just expected was going to happen when you’re having a kid.”

There have been five days of jury deliberation in this trial following closing arguments. They’re deadlocked. A Tuey charge was issued by the judge yesterday, and if they can’t reach a verdict after that — a Tuey charge is meant to press a deadlocked jury into reaching an agreement — then a mistrial is usually called. Clancy is facing conviction on first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and manslaughter, and is also being considered for a not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity verdict. There’s also the possibility of her being found not guilty.