The Measles-Stricken Mother Who Lost Her Newborn Son

The governor of Pennsylvania announced the state's first two measles-associated deaths in 35 years, one of them a newborn in Lancaster County, home to the nation's largest Amish community.

But the baby's parents—call them John and Anna—neither watch TV nor use the internet, and had no idea their son had become national news.

A maelstrom of political confusion

The governor's opponents accused him of exploiting the deaths for political points. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mocked the governor, calling his press conference 'unseemly' and an example of 'the weaponization of infectious disease fears for political gain.'

Kennedy even suggested, without evidence, that the deaths might be 'altogether fabricated by one of the Governor's hopeful staffers.'

A family's grief

John and Anna have 13 children, and nearly all of them are unvaccinated. Anna caught measles while pregnant and became severely ill, able to speak only in a whisper for days.

On August 14, she gave birth early to a baby boy, who was not breathing at birth and died within half an hour.

They believed measles contributed to the baby's death—and so did their midwife. They were surprised to learn that the coroner attributed the death to a ruptured spleen, not measles.

The ignored truth

Measles weakens the immune system, leaving young children vulnerable to pneumonia and other fatal complications. A ruptured spleen is extremely rare in newborns, and no one can yet explain what caused it.

While officials argued, the baby was buried in a simple grave, marked by a wooden stake scrawled with 'sillborn.'

John and Anna just want the coroner's report. 'There's nothing we can do about it,' Anna said. John sees it as God's plan: 'I guess he chose us this time.'

The political squabble has done a disservice to this simple, modest, solemn burial.