Married women and infants who, in the judgment of the medical superintendent are evidently insane or distracted, may be entered or detained in the hospital on the request of the husband of the woman, or the guardian of the infant, without the evidence of insanity required in other cases.
--The State of Illinois law, February 15, 1851
change
For the duration of Elizabeth Packard's life she worked as an advocate for the mentally ill and women under tyrannical husbands. The journal she kept in the asylum led to the composition of multiple books influencing thirty-four bills, mainly in Illinois, defending rights for women and mental patients. An example of a Packard Law was one passed in 1869 in Illinois that stated individuals needed a fair trial with a jury to determine their mental state before they could be sent to an asylum. Packard's actions inspired the formation of The National Society for the Protection of the Insane and the Prevention of Insanity. Because of Packard the rights of institutionalized individuals were protected.