Local News - July 2003

‘Rebirthing’ banned

Victory for Candace

By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer

It was a victory for Candace.

The controversial technique that killed a 10-year-old Lincoln County girl three years ago has been banned in the state of North Carolina.

The death of Candace Newmaker — born in Lincoln as Candace Tiara Elmore — is blamed on “rebirthing,” a process in which a child is wrapped in blankets and sheets and forced to reenact the birth process.

Candace died in April 2000 in Colorado during a “rebirthing” session designed to treat her for reactive attachment disorder, in which a child resists forming loving relationships.

Gov. Mike Easley signed a bill banning “rebirthing” into law June 18.

Candace’s grandparents, Mary and David Davis have fought tirelessly for the passage of the bill since Candace’s death.

While the Davises said they’re far from being over the loss of their granddaughter, the passage of the bill brings some closure.

“It gave Candace’s life a purpose, to call attention to this kind of abuse (and) to at least stop some part of what they do,” David Davis said.

The Davises are adamant that attachment therapy centers — 38 states currently have at least one — do nothing more than commit child abuse.

Their fight has led them from Lincoln County to Colorado many times, to attend the trial of the two therapists who were eventually convicted and sent to prison, and to lobby legislators there to pass a bill to ban “rebirthing.”

Candace’s adoptive mother, Jeane Newmaker, took Candace to Colorado to receive the treatment.

That treatment involved the therapists and assistants wrapping Candace in a flannel sheet and forcefully pressing large pillows against her. The act was supposed to recreate birth and cause Candace to emerge reborn to bond with her adoptive mother.

The four adults taking part — weighing a total 673 pounds — pushed and pressed on Candace’s 70-pound frame for almost 70 minutes, the Davises said.

During the process, Candace repeatedly begged them to stop and said she couldn’t breath.

Forty minutes after the procedure began, a therapist asked Candace if she wanted to be reborn.

Candace said, “No.”

It was her last word.

When the blanket was unwrapped later, the 10-year-old was not breathing and had no pulse. She had defecated and vomited on herself.

Candace died the next day in a hospital in Denver.

The unnecessary pain and torture that Candace went through spurned the Davises fight for a law against “rebirthing.”

And they’re quick to point out that they didn’t do it alone. The Davises give much of the credit to Sen. Austin Allran (R-Catawba) who sponsored the bill in the Senate, and Rep. Joe Kiser, R-Vale, who sponsored it in the House.

“I’m proud to say we are working with people in government office,” David Davis said.

And the two officials don’t hesitate to give the credit back to the Davises and emphasize the importance of this law.

“The real story here in my book is not what I’ve done or what senators have done, but what the grandparents have,” Kiser said during Easley’s ceremonial signing of the bill.

“I have been impressed with them so much. They have worked so hard and so long, (and) used their resources to travel all over the country to lobby people about what happened to Candace.”

Allran called the technique “nothing more than a form of quackery.”

“The message that we want to send out to everybody is that in this state, this is not going to happen ever again … we will not tolerate this type of child abuse.”

Allran said that “rebirthing” and other forms of attachment therapy still present a “clear and present danger” because of the availability of referrals to other states, but North Carolina’s position on the issue is clear.

“We’re sending a message out that we will allow zero tolerance for this type of thing,” Allran said.

The Davises said their next step is to get “rebirthing” banned on a federal level. Both governmental officials have pledged their support.

“We want a federal ban on this,” David Davis said. “There’s 48 states that don’t see it coming — it’s a freight train in the night.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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