Okay, so. There is this story on the news about a child who has Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He and his parents belong to a sect that believes people can get better through alternative medicines. Both he and his parents have refused Chemotherapy. I think he had the chemo before, but stopped because of what it did to him or stopped after the "first round". The authorities got involved and are accusing the parents of neglect. They were taken to court and he was ordered to undergo tests to see if he had gotten worse and if so, to FORCE him into getting Chemotherapy. They were due in court this week and guess what? The child and his mother have disappeared. A manhunt is underway (the kind with an arrest warrant).
Anyway, my knee jerk reaction was to call the parents "ass backwards" etc. But, upon analysis, whatever they believe in is irrelevant. The implications this case has are all over the place. The case becomes, how much power over our physical bodies should the government have? How much power should it have over
our children? Do we not have the right to control what kind of medical treatment we receive? Do we not have the right to refuse medical treatment and "let what will be, be"? Do we have a right to refuse treatment for ourselves, but not for our kids because they are kids? Shit, last time I checked we didn't live in Plato's republic.
This is a slippery slope kind of case, I think.
