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[erbie]

WTF is wrong with this judgeIf the kid was two years older, there's nothing he could do, but since he's under 18, the judge can just ignore what the kid and his parents want and force him to have treatment? If it were my kid, we'd be moving somewhere they don't force people to undergo medical treatment they don't want. Sixteen is old enough to make

Comments

[lawgeekgurl]

it is all part and parcel of the current thinking that the State has a greater interest in your life (and you staying alive) than you have to (a) end it if you are suffering a terminal illness; (b) have an abortion; or (c) use stem cells; (d) decide you don't want to be on a ventilator if you're in a PVS, and subject to idiots in Congress who say they can tell your medical state via videotape.

[erbie]

Seriously. Fuckers.

[amyura]

Tip of the iceberg. There was a case in Washington state where the kid got removed because the parents had an unassisted homebirth; they only got the baby back after the mother was forced to sign an agreement refusing to breastfeed. You know, because breastfeeding is dangerous to your baby's health and formula is better. There are instances of court-ordered cesareans. There's a woman on one of my yahoo groups whose daughter also had cancer and was removed from the home after the grandmother called CPS-- they ended up putting her in with the grandmother and forcing chemo on her too. Meanwhile, children in real abusive homes, being beaten and injured, are left there in the name of "keeping families together."

And we supposedly live in a free country.

[erbie]

I could see if the kid wanted the treatment and the parents were refusing to allow it, but nobody wants it.

There was a link from the above story about a 13 year old who was removed from her parents and put in foster care and her brothers were also removed for a couple weeks, because she and her parents refused to allow radiation for Hodgkins. I've also read several stories where the courts took custody of a fetus to force the mother to have a c-section. In one case, the doctors said the baby was too big to be delivered vaginally, even though the mom had previously given birth to 5 or 6 kids, all over 9 lbs. If she had returned to the hospital to give birth, they had a court order to do it. Instead, she went to another hospital and delivered vaginally after a short labor. In another case, they actually forced the mom to have a c-section.

I didn't realize I was living in 70's-era Romania.