Chemo Kid/Mom on the Lam. Thoughts?

[astrocreep96]

Curious to know what others think of the recent developments with this family in Minnesota, specifically the whole parent's rights/obligations issue.

Father Asks Mom, 13-Year-Old Boy Resisting Chemo to Come Home - Children's Health - FOXNews.com

NEW ULM, Minn. — The father of a 13-year-old cancer-stricken boy who ran off with his mother to avoid court-ordered chemotherapy treatment is asking the two to come home.

"I'd like to tell them to come back and be safe and be a family again," Anthony Hauser said during an interview posted on the Web site of KARE 11 Minneapolis-St. Paul Wednesday.

Hauser said he doesn't know where his wife and son are. He said he last saw his son Monday morning, and he saw his wife only briefly that evening when she said she was leaving "for a time."

The parents cite a religious conviction that encourages the use of alternative medicines instead of chemo therapy. I'm apt to support the parent's autonomy on the issue and respect their rights and beliefs as a family so long as they are making the decisions with a full understanding of the situation and the severity of the consequences, and assuming the child in question is reasonably competent to make the decisions as well.

As it stands though, I've heard the mother proclaim that her child is in no danger, despite the most recent x-rays apparently showing the cancer has spread. The child is supposedly a little slow and doesn't fully understand the situation.

The chemo regimen the doctors had planned has a 95% success rate, which is just about as good as it gets. I'd say in this situation, screw the parents and hook the kid up to the chemo.:fart:

 

[jerrad]

Hopefully the kid gets the treatment to save his life. Chemo or not, hopefully he makes it.

I could understand if he'd 70 and the chances of chemo helping are low but this is a gimme basically.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I really don't know what to think about situations like this. The parents and child should be allowed to refuse whatever services that might infringe upon their religious rights and views as long as they are competent in making those decisions. If that most likely means death for the child, though, there should be some middle ground. I think that the parents are making the wrong decision in absolutely refusing any sort of medical care for the child.

I know some people that have done similar things but have augmented whatever steps they are taking with medical care. They felt that traditional practices were the best and correct treatment for their ailments, but also knew that modern medical care had its uses.

 

[SteelyBuns]

I have mixed feelings on the issue...

On one hand I feel like the parents should be able to do as they see fit due to their beliefs and whatnot.

On the other hand this kid has an excellent chance to survive this terrible disese that some people just dont have. I think its incredibly selfish of the parents, especially the mother who took off with him. He could live a long and happy life but may not have the chance.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Can't they just switch to Presbyterianism or some other Christian denomination that allows them to get treated by modern medicine? I mean, they'll still be God's Children then, right?

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Can't they just switch to Presbyterianism or some other Christian denomination that allows them to get treated by modern medicine? I mean, they'll still be God's Children then, right?

That assumes that they are Christian, which I am quite sure they are not.

 

[LaFlavor]

That assumes that they are Christian, which I am quite sure they are not.

Yeah, they sound like some of those hippie new-agers.

I'm not sure where to go on this either. Normally, I'm all for allowing people to die, but I kinda draw the line at children. I kinda feel like the child should be taken away, and surgery should be performed on the parents to make sure they never breed again.

 

[Rush]

Another victim of mindless religion.

I worked with a woman just like this years back. She refused medical treatment for her son because of religious reasons. Needless to say her son died and she quit the job because of the social backlash she received. Unnecessary death :nonono:

 

[FX4 SAPPER]

Well the way i look at it personally is its child abuse 100%. And if and when this kid dies the parents should be convicted of pre-meditated murder if they dont return for treatment.

On the other hand i dont think that legally they should be able to press this issue like this, for the simple fact that it interferes with their religious viewpoints. I think legally the law has overstepped its boundaries. And besides, its the parents child, (even though they obviously arent in the right frame of minds for refusing) not the states.

 

[FX4 SAPPER]

That assumes that they are Christian, which I am quite sure they are not.

I would be willing to lay down a grand that they are christian scientists.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I would be willing to lay down a grand that they are christian scientists.

Daniel, one of eight children, has asserted that treatment would violate his religious beliefs. The teenager filed an affidavit saying that he is a medicine man and church elder in the Nemenhah, an American Indian religious organization that his parents joined 18 years ago (though they don't claim to be Indians).

"I am opposed to chemotherapy because it is self-destructive and poisonous," he told the court. "I want to live a virtuous life, in the eyes of my creator, not just a long life." He also filed a "spiritual path declaration" that said: "I am a medicine man. Some times we teach, and some times we perform. Now, I am doing both. I will lead by example."

Sleepy Eye parents, teen fight to refuse chemo

I'll take those e-dollars off your hands now.

 

[tistan]

Well the way i look at it personally is its child abuse 100%. And if and when this kid dies the parents should be convicted of pre-meditated murder if they dont return for treatment.

On the other hand i dont think that legally they should be able to press this issue like this, for the simple fact that it interferes with their religious viewpoints. I think legally the law has overstepped its boundaries. And besides, its the parents child, (even though they obviously arent in the right frame of minds for refusing) not the states.

Unfortunatly the kid has cancer so no one can 100% garuntee his survival. If they refuse treatment it isn't murder because there is a chance he will still die even with treatment.

 

[427Windsorman]

The fact is that the parents have the right to choose for their child(ren), period. It does not matter if you agree, I agree, or government agree's.

Government, on the other hand, has NO AUTHORITY nor place in this issue, or in the decision making process.

Freedom demands responsibility, and consequences. That is life, and there is nothing anyone can do to change it. You can educate people, but, in the end, they have the right to choose their own course, as well as that of their children, regardless of whether you agree with it, or not.

Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgement and nothing can help you escape it -- that no substitute can do your thinking, as no pinch-hitter can live your life. - Quote by: Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Author

What you have to realize is that the purpose of education is to make the choices clear to people, not to make the choices for people.

 

[stangin99]

Didn't God invent chemo?


Hook the kid up!

 

[Darcsun]

Let em die.

 

[FX4 SAPPER]

Sleepy Eye parents, teen fight to refuse chemo

I'll take those e-dollars off your hands now.

Well piss. I read a different article that said for religious beliefs, but it didnt say which. There are some christian scientists up the street who never go to the doctors or anything.

 

[SteelyBuns]

shouldnt "christian scientist" be an oxymoron?

 

[SolarYellow]

One would think people would have the common sense to do what is right. Even if they lack all common sense, I don't think it's the place of the gov't to get involved.

 

[snakecharmer]

I have no mixed feelings on this whatsoever. The Mom should be arrested and charged with attempted murder.

 

[s_x_i]

I have no mixed feelings on this whatsoever. The Mom should be arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Why?

It's the kid's life... if he's comfortable playing the hand he's dealt then let him play it. It's not up to us or the government to make the decision for him. He made what seemed to be a concise cognitive statement about his beliefs and his reasons for denying treatment, let him do what he believes is right.

Just because the government says something's good for you doesn't mean it always is...oke: