Andrea Yates attorney speaks on public views on women's mental health amid Lindsay Clancy trial

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Andrea Yates and Lindsay Clancy. Their cases are more than two decades apart.

But both have forced juries and the public to consider whether a mother in the throes of mental illness can be held responsible for their shocking actions.

"We all were raised by mothers, and this is not your bar room brawl gone bad or your drug deal gone bad," George Parnham, Yates' attorney, explained. "This is the very essence of our own existence."

Parnham is 86 years old now and partially retired, but still keeps in close contact with his client, who remains at Kerrville State Hospital.

"I remember from a personal standpoint, during the trial and even before, having a difficult time sleeping," he said.

It's been 25 years since Yates drowned her five young children in the bathtub of her Clear Lake home.

SEE ALSO: Andrea Yates: 20 years since the tragedy that shocked the nation

In 2002, Yates was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

But the conviction was overturned, and in 2006, a jury found Yates not guilty by reason of insanity.

Parnham has become an advocate for increasing women's mental health services.

"I've seen changes in the way the public views women's mental health through the years," he said. "I've seen it in jury selections."

Prosecutors in the Lindsay Clancy trial asked jurors to sentence her to prison, arguing she knew exactly what she was doing when she strangled her three young children in 2023.

Clancy's attorneys argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should be in a hospital.

Studies by the National Institutes of Health have called the disorder a rare psychiatric emergency that warrants immediate medical attention.

The U.S. legal system treats it like any other insanity defense.

This mistrial means murder charges against Clancy remain, and the case could be tried all over again.

Meanwhile, the dialogue continues over mental health and what it means for criminal responsibility.

"How in the world does something like this happen to children whose lives were given to them by the mother who ended up taking their lives? How does this take place? And it's mental illness. There's no question about it," Parnham said.