Personhood USA: Easter service planned for Justina Pelletier outside Framingham facility

BOSTON, April 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Free Justina Coalition and members of the Pelletier family will hold an Easter service on Sunday, April 20, from 3:00-4:00 P.M., outside of the Wayside Youth and Family facility where Justina is being held (1 Frederick Abbott Way, Framingham, MA 01701).

Justina, who has been in custody of Massachusetts DCF for 14 months, has not been allowed to attend Mass on Christmas Eve, Christmas, or Easter; nor has she been allowed to be with her family on these special holidays.

"It is an outrage that for the past 14 months Justina Pelletier has not been allowed to practice her Catholic faith, attend mass, see a priest, or spend religious holidays with her family," said Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a spokesperson for the Pelletier family. "It shows an utter disregard by Massachusetts DCF toward Justina's basic Constitutional rights and contempt for basic freedoms that should be afforded to every American citizen."

DCF's decision to prevent Justina from practicing her religious beliefs is in violation of several federal laws. Recently, the Pelletiers traveled to Washington, D.C. to discuss these civil rights violations with members of Congress.

Mahoney continued: "It is tragic that every young person in the Wayside Youth Facility will be able to spend time with their family and celebrate Easter except one. That is Justina Pelletier. It appears that DCF is punishing Justina and the Pelletier family rather than trying to reunite them, which is their stated purpose. The only solution to this nightmare is to return Justina Pelletier back into the loving arms of her family."

SOURCE Personhood USA

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