(PTI): A female US soldier has been detained for refusing deployment to Afghanistan. Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson of Oakland, California said she felt her infant child would not receive decent care in her absence so she could not agree to be sent to a war in a foreign country.

She was arrested less than two weeks ago at her base in Georgia and her child was taken into care, USA Today reported. Criminal charges could be filed against the 21-year-old, although she has insisted she could not entrust the child with anyone but her mother, who is already caring for three other relatives with health problems.

“For her it was like, ‘I couldn’t abandon my child,’” said her civilian lawyer, Rai Sue Sussman, adding, “She was really afraid of what would happen, that if she showed up they would send her to Afghanistan anyway and put her son with child protective services.”

The case has sparked debate in the United States since deployment rules exempt single parents who cannot put their child into reliable care.