Posted on 07/25/2006 5:33:56 AM PDT by ohhhh
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51219
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER Threat: Cancer teen to be taken by force 16-year-old Virginian: 'I'm not going to receive chemotherapy no matter what'
Posted: July 25, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
The father of a Virginia teen seeking an alternative treatment for his cancer says a social worker has threatened to use force to take the boy away from the family for court-ordered chemotherapy.
Jay Cherrix of Chincoteague, Va., is concerned there could be an Elian Gonzalez-style showdown over his 16-year-old son, Abraham, who has already undergone chemotherapy for his Hodgkin's disease to no avail.
Appearing on Sean Hannity's national radio program yesterday, Jay Cherrix said, "When the social-service worker came and interviewed me, I told him how Abraham felt and about how we had met a person who had been cured by this [alternative treatment] and how we were supporting Abraham's decision. I said, 'What will you do with my little boy? Will you take him somewhere and strap him down and put duct tape on his mouth and pump full of this stuff if he doesn't want it?'
"He said, 'No, I will come to your house with a uniformed officer, and I will take your son by force if he resists. And I will take him to somebody who will do that.'
"And I said, 'I don't think I can let you do that.'"
He added there have also been other threats to take Abraham away from the family.
"They told Abraham that if he did not go and have an X-ray, they would put him in a juvenile detention center with drug dealers. They told him that if he did not do that they would put him in a foster home. ... We never thought that people could actually say that to a young fellow like that. We've been surprised by lots of stuff but we have a strong faith and we believe that we'll prevail. We think there will be a judge that will use common sense and compassion and grant a stay on that [mandated chemotherapy] order."
"I can't believe we're gonna live in a society where the government now, through a court order, is gonna send some bureaucrat into your house, take you out in handcuffs, slap you on a gurney and stick some medicine in you because they deem that you've made the wrong decision in life. I can't believe we're actually on the verge of that happening here," said an outraged Hannity. "It's almost like Elian Gonzalez for crying out loud."
In 2000, 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban child who made it to Florida by sea, was forcibly taken by armed federal agents in a late-night forced entry into a Miami home to return him to his father in Cuba.
"We have to stop this in the United States," Jay Cherrix said. "This is an intrusion. This is the way you destroy families and it's not fair and it's not America."
On Friday, Judge Jesse Demps of Accomack County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court ordered Abraham's parents to bring him to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk by 1 p.m. today and give consent to whatever treatment the hospital recommends.
Judge Demps also found Abraham's parents neglectful, and required them to share custody of the teen with the Accomack County Department of Social Services.
"I'm not going to receive chemotherapy no matter what," Abraham said on "Hannity & Colmes" last night. "This is my body, the body that God gave to me, and in the Bible it says for me to take care of this body. It's my temple. ... If you are not able to do with your body what you want to, then you have no rights whatsoever."
When asked to describe his previous chemotherapy treatment, the teen said, "It was worse than dying itself. It was more like torture."
Abraham is looking to stick to a diet of all-natural foods and nuts and take the Hoxsey Treatment from Tijuana, Mexico.
"The diet is an anti-cancer diet which further enhances the immune system; so the three factors, the supplement, the diet and the herbs allow your body to kill off its own cancer," Dr. Allen Chips, who researched the treatment told WVEC-TV in Norfolk.
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
[Does the judge have nothing to do or is he play-acting a scene from 1984?]
The country is being destroyed from within by fascist politicians and judges who find the Constitution unconstitutional.
This is so insane as to be "unbelievable".
A huge falacy is perpetrated. That is that the government knows best. In my experience, the people in government never are the best. Judges are losers who can't make it in private practice, not philosopher kings.
How does this decision square with the "right to privacy" granted by roe vs. wade. Can a 16 year old girl get an abortion in this state without parental permission? Would a 16 year old be protected from her parents by the same "welfare" agency if she chose to abort a child while she was in custody of the state.
If she can make a decision for medical treatment why can't he make a decision not to have medical treatment?
I agree that this kid (AND HIS PARENTS) should have the decision making right here. But what about those children in Christian Scientists homes who refuse treatment that could prevent death for their kids?
Wow, this is a tough issue.
I also think that comparing this to Elian Gonzalez is stupid with the exception of the force issue. I feel that the right decision was made on Elian. That situation is no different than an Islamic father kidnapping his children and taking them to another country and the mother has no rights there. Both are wrong. Whether we disagree with his (Elian) father or not, it was HIS child and he is the sole custodian since his mother died.
>>>Although I disagree with the family's decision, had I been them I would have simply left the state or at least put my son on a train to parts unknown. If, in fact, they do duct tape this boy to a gurney, I hope it's captured on video for everyone to see.>>>
Of course it won't, same as that nimrod judge in Florida forbade cameras to witness Terri Schiavo's agony.
We Know What's Best For You - Don't you go thinking you know what you want for yourself. After all, if we let you make your own decisions, we'd have to start letting everyone else make their own decisions, and before long it would be chaos, and we would have no control at all, and if we had no control at all, people might start realizing they don't need us, and, and, and...
Where is the fair-haired governor of the state of VA while this totalitarian scenario is being played out in front of the nation?
And why is World Net Daily a valid news source?
I was just thinking the same thing. Big Brother has decided he wants to play God.
I think it is Illinois that is going to do MANDATORY mental health screening. What a bunch of garbage!!
But the pedophiles will not be subjected to such privacy invasion, only the women and children will be.
People are missing the point here. This is not as much a health issue as it is a parental rights issue. If this young man was an adult, he would have the right to not take the therapy. Because this is a decision he made with his family, (therefore according to the court, his parents' decision), the court is undermining the decision of the parents. Prepare yourselves to see more of this in the future.
Lets be careful about the word "federal" here...so far its been state institutions and judges involved here...I suspect the Federal judges may take a different tact here!
Why do I get the feeling that this is not about alternative treatment at all but about him being a Jehovahs witness?
If Abraham were 10, I might see the other side in this. Parents should have broad latitude in their children's medical care, but children are not property and parents do not own them; they have an affirmative duty to protect a child's welfare, and if they fail in that duty it's legitimate to put the kid in foster care or appoint a guardian.
But Abraham is 16, has already survived one course of chemotherapy, and I believe he is equipped -- in some ways, better than his doctors are -- to judge the risks and make an informed decision, whether I agree with the science behind it or not. In less than two years, if he lives that long, there will be no legal question whatsoever that the decision is his to make.
One possible legal avenue that I haven't seen mentioned -- Abraham could petition the court to be declared an emancipated minor. 16 would not be an unprecedented age for that. He could still live in his parents' home, of course, but the parents' judgment, custody questions and foster care would disappear as legal issues.
An emancipated minor is assumed competent to make informed decisions for himself, and the government would need to clear a very high hurdle to declare him incompetent to make his own decisions on health care.
I dont know, I think the parents are wrong for denying treatment. I have never understood these snake handling types. Id want the best and immediate care for my kids. And this is the state, not the feds..
In this case...living locally and knowing the story here in Virginia, World News Daily is accurately portraying the story!
If Abraham says no more then his wishes should be granted..He is old enough to make that decision...
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