You are not the final decision maker in your or your
family’s lives. The State is smarter, and better qualified to know what
is good for you. “WAR IS PEACE — FREEDOM IS SLAVERY — IGNORANCE IS
STRENGTH” (1984, George Orwell). If you try to make a
contrary decision to the State, you are doomed. And, Juvenile Court
Judges are supremely qualified to make medical decisions… much better
qualified than a 16-year-old who has already been through treatment that nearly
killed him, and better than the parents of the child.
So you might know that I’m referring to the case of Starchild Abraham
Cherrix. If you think what I’ve written above is sarcasm, think
again. This situation is wrong on so many levels it makes me sick.
We risk losing more of the rights of juveniles, parents, and people in
general. We see more invasion into our lives by government agencies, the
courts, and legislative bodies. And most scary about this is that this is
driving us right down the hole of socialized medicine.
As much as we tend to think otherwise, a teenager typically is capable of
making some pretty important decisions on his/her own by age 16… the fact
that we issue driver’s licenses in most states at that age should be sufficient
to support society’s agreement with this statement. That said, some
decisions, such as the one that Abraham has made, are monumental and perhaps
even unthinkable for many of us. I have never myself needed to make much
of a life-risking decision about my medical treatment when I’ve already tried
and found it largely unsuccessful and devastating physically. I cannot
imagine the stress involved on his part in formulating a decision that he could
live with.
Much more can be said about a parent. We’ve likely all known parents that
we think are not capable of raising children properly, and we’ve all heard
horror stories of physical abuse that makes our collective skin crawl.
Abraham’s father, however, has decided to be supportive of his son’s
decision. This choice has been sufficient for social services and courts to
say he is negligent and needs to share responsibility for raising Abraham with
the state. He raised Abraham up until now, and his son appears to be a
bright, well educated and mature young man. He has made every effort to
do what is right by his son and assisted him in his treatment program.
I’ve neither seen nor heard anything that leads me to believe that this man is anything
but selfless and tireless in providing everything his son needs. There
are thousands of situations each day where parents have to make treatment
choices for their children, and as far as I know, those choices are not
examined for “correctness” by the state. Why this one?
Not for the child’s sake, in my opinion.
And if the government can rule over a parent’s decision, where does that role
stop? I’ve grown up believing that a parent’s decision-making authority
on behalf of a minor is the same as an adult making a decision for
themselves. If that is so, then the same thinking that says the courts
can tell parents what decisions to make will eventually tell any adult what
they should decide (and think?). I see
this as nothing more than a subversive attempt to justify the continued
expansion of the role of the courts and agencies, which will both build the Big
Brother mentality and suck our tax dollars down their holes. I do NOT
want to see government step in and decide my personal medical treatment.
I am fine with courts stepping in if there is a conflict regarding who is
responsible to decide treatment. Case in
point, I wish to heaven that “who decides†had been the extent of the Terri
Schiavo case, but the courts and the legislature all had to jump in and try to
make the actual decision about the treatment. That was wrong, just like
this case is wrong.
So the point here to me becomes, what, if any, role does the government have in
deciding treatment?
First, government should not be deciding on treatment as long as the options
are legal. To me, that means leaving the country to get treatment
elsewhere is up to me. Smoking pot to relieve pain is not okay if it’s
illegal to smoke pot, unless it is classified as a controlled substance that
can be prescribed by a doctor.
Second, refusing treatment should always be an acceptable option. What
exactly would have happened if Abraham had never gone to the doctor to say he
wasn’t feeling well? He would have died, and everyone would have said
“that’s too bad”. But since the doctors have him in their
sights, they want to fill him up with their drugs, which granted may save his
life, but also may kill him. What if I go to the doctor with a cut on my
arm, and the doctor says I need stitches and antibiotic to help it heal, and I
say, “no way, just bandage it up”. I may get better with no ill
effects… or I might get an infection and die. It happens. It is
NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE TO SAVE EVERYONE’S LIFE!!! People
die, and if we can help, let’s help, but if people refuse it, we have to let
them go… The state and medical community have got to abandon their
messiah complexes and provide services as needed, requested, and accepted.
Third, reasonable parents should be allowed to make decisions as needed for
their children without the state stepping in when they cannot convince parents
to change their minds. As much as the state wants to help everyone, they
cannot, and they need to know their boundaries. Obviously, blatant
physical abuse needs to be stopped and children should be protected from evil and
sick parents. Abraham does not have this problem.
Give Abraham and his family the respect they deserve. This has been a
difficult enough decision without all the additional interference by the
state.
And stay out my doctor’s office.
