CANTON, Minn. – Perhaps the most widely known citizen of Fillmore County, author Lizzy Herschberger, shutters at the U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that exempts Amish farmers from a county septic requirement for wastewater. “I’m devastated,” Herschberger said in an interview with television station KTTC. Hershberger worries about wastewater seeping into the ground and contaminating drinking water. “Personally, I would not be able to live here if nothing gets done,” she said. “Other residents aren’t going to be happy about this either.” The Court sided with Amish religious beliefs that eschew mechanical conveniences, but Hershberger, who grew up Amish, doesn’t see how a septic system hinders religious freedom. “I don’t see in any shape or form why having a septic system outside would interfere with that,” she said. “They can still do their church things any way they want to. I just don’t understand the basis of how they can say septics interfere with their religious freedoms, when in fact, I cannot think of a single reason why not.”
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Herschberger’s journey
Hershberger grew up in a traditionalist Swartzentruber Amish home. She left when she was 17, which made her an outcast. In 2019 she reported being raped 28 rapes 30 years earlier by an Amish preacher. She testified that sexual abuse was rampant in the Swartzentruber sect. The preacher, Chriss C. Stutzman, 57 admitted to conduct with a teenage girl and went to jail. Hershberger, meanwhile, wrote a book about her experiences. She founded a national organization, Voices of Hope, as a forum for women to share stories. She lives in Canton, about 14 miles from Swartzentruber farms on the Upper Iowa River. In Canton, she has raised four children and been elected to the School Board.
Herschberger. Befuddled how septic disposal of wastewater is an infringement on Amish religious freedom.