Can this be possible? force someone to die?

Question

i just read this article.
http://www.newstarget.com/019759.html



This teenager has been court ordered to take chemotherapy for his hodgkins disease/cancer. His dad might go to jail for child neglect if he doesnt go through with the chemo. what kinda civilization are we living in? this is happening in our own backyard. who the hell is the court to say this is what u are ordered to do. why do they think they have that right to court order it? I dont understand. shed some light as to why. i tried putting myself in the gov't shoes and i can't

Answer 1

I read the article too. I understand the teen doesn't want the conventional treatment to his cancer, parents agree with him. Well is his body, his life, he said he feels good.

So I think, if he says the herbal diet is working just leave him alone. The judge ordered what he thought is the best for the teen but the reality is no body knows better than Him (the teen) if he's doing good or not.

Now, this is an issue of his parents responsibility, If his parents decided to support the teen decision is their responsibility, because the teen is underage. some times you need to use your role as a responsible parent and say "NO,you will not decide on this." But they just want their son to be happy until his finally die.

Personally I don't think a herbal diet will cure his cancer. If I was his mother I will not let him decide to go with this alternative medicine. I would make him to go to the traditional treatment, that I consider is the best in this case.

But he is not my son, I can't decide for him.
Is a complicate issue.

Answer 2

Here is how the government see it:

It's basically a response to a suicide attempt. In a sense, that is what the kid is doing. Make no mistake, the disease will kill him if he doesn't get the traditional treatment ( abvd or Stanford V chemotherapy) he needs. If he does, his chances of survival are around 85%. The non-traditional treatment has shown no proven affect on survivability of the cancer, and as such is the same in the government's eyes as no treatment at all.

In the government's eyes, the parents are neglecting his health. They may be doing it for moral reasons, but they are allowing/assisting him to go with out treatment. That is the boy's choice, when he is an adult.

That is the crux of the matter. It has been deemed that children, younger than 18 are not capable of making their own decisions (whether you think that is right or wrong) and as such it is up to their parents to make the correct choices for them. By not getting the treatment that will likely save his life, the parents are deemed as not acting in the child's best interest.

Bottom line, the government (justly or unjustly) believes that the choice to not treat his fatal disease is not his to make until he is 18. If, at the age of majority, he decides that he does not wish to continue the traditional treatment, I know of no laws that prohibit him from doing so.

Answer 3

The Government's shoes are as follows;
Any time a child is severely abused at the hand of a guardian htere is a huge amount of public outcry stating that soomething should have been done to protect the rights of that child. Because a significant amount of people grow up to have differing views from that of their parents, we assume that any choice involving a belief structure is not yet theirs, but is instead being imposed upon them by their parents. So the Government is left with a difficult decision and chooses to protect that child using current socially acccepted methods... The Governments decision was to protect the life of the child using medical procedures that have been documented, studied and prooven to be an effective way to treat the condition, rather than put his life at risk by allowing him to use methods which may be effective but unfortunatly leave too much doubt because of insufficient documentation...
Of course that would depend on whether or not the teenager is age of consent...
Just a guess...

Answer 4

This is a no win situation for all involved.The courts and judge do not have a choice but to do what they did.If this young man died because he got worse,they would be blamed.His parents won't be there for him if they disobey the ruling.I really hope he gets better.Hodgkin's is 96% curable with the treatment they are giving him if it's not to late.He can use his other treatments too.Chemo is not a nice thing to go thru but once it's done he should be OK and when he turns 18 he can decide for himself they will have no say in what he does.Good Luck!

Answer 5

The thing I don't get is does the child want to go through all of that. If he doesn't it is his own choice but depending on the age of the child decisions like that might not be possible. It's pretty stupid if you ask me and I agree with "Cherrix says his ongoing legal battle to keep his right to naturally treat his cancer is distracting him from healing: "I should be concentrating on my recovery. This case is taking me away from that.""

Answer 6

This isn't about understanding the court or its rights, it is about understanding what Americans have willingly given up over the course of the last two centuries... that would be just about ALL our rights over ourselves and our families. NO ONE SHOULD BE FORCED TO ENDURE ANY TREATMENT THAT THEY DO NOT WANT. This kid is 16, both He and His parents are in agreement... THIS IS NOT THE PLACE OF THE GOVERNMENT OR COURT TO BE INTERFERRING... THIS IS PRIVATE AND PERSONAL DECISIONS BEING HIJACKED BY OUR INTRUSIVE AND (no offense) RETARDED GOVERNMENT. NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND UP AND START SAYING "NO, WE WILL NOT TAKE YOUR GARBAGE ANYMORE".

THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO RIGHT TO INTERVENE IN MEDICAL CARE, DEATH, OR LIFE OF A HUMAN BEING. THEY ARE THERE SOLELY TO PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE, GENERAL LEADERSHIP, AND MILITARY.

Answer 7

I don't think the courts should have any say what so ever! Alot of people in power need to re-read the constitution.

Answer 8

Its like everything else the government wants to get it's fingers into....education, health care, sports drug testing...the list goes on. Most if not all are not required and sometimes not even allowed by the US Constitution. To make matters worse, we get taxed for all these b.s. programs. Remember, the government is spending OUR MONEY.

Answer 9

he will probably commit suicide rather than be forced by the government to inject poison into his veins,,, Terri Zhivo,, hummm.............

Answer 10

hum your right