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.
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I agree with you. Age does make a difference and he did try chemo, didn't work. Didn't work with my mother either, but she died before anything else could be tried.
I think Doctors have become more and more God complexified. My dad's doctor definitely has that attitude.
In this state, all judges are elected. If you could have that in Virginia, it would probably make a difference.
I don't know if it's applicable to this specific case, but would not an emancipated minor no longer be a qualified dependent under his parent's insurance policy? Maybe someone more knowledgabe than I could shed some insight on this.
ping...
As the patient has already endured one round of chemotherapy, I wouldn't describe this decision as one from a "snake handling type," as I would that of someone making an informed quality of life determination. Your typical "snake handling type" is not known to try the chemo route first.
"Those social workers were really full of compassion, weren't they?"
Just bureaucrats drunk with power.
This is false. A Christian body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and as such should be respected. God gives us the right to life, not the right to do as we please with our bodies. Otherwise, God would give us the right to commit adultery, commit suicide, etc.
Even from a political perspective, control over one's own body has to be limited. Otherwise suicide could be sanctioned. And people who represent a grave threat to themselves should be taken into custody for their own protection.
This is a difficult case because the benefit of the chemotherapy isn't clear. The boy is also almost at legal adult age.
But I wouldn't want to say that parents have the unalienable right to deny medical treatment to their children.
"I have never understood these snake handling types."
Chemo abosolutely, positively, without a doubt Killed my mother while being treated for hodgins. If I ever get it I will not be taking any Chemo.
She had a reaction to the chemo and her lungs went out, it was very painful for her. Her quality of life was taken away. She felt much better before the chemo.
The first principle of government is to promote the common good.
Government may tolerate bogus therapies, not because people have an unalienable right to them, but because the therapies generally cause little harm, and an effort to suppress them would be expensive and probably counterproductive.
I hadn't thought of that angle. I don't know the answer, but that would certainly be a consideration.
On the other hand, if he's chosen alternative therapies that wouldn't be covered anyway, that might actually strengthen the case; anyone trying to force chemo would also have to find someone to pay for it.
Scary
It is my understanding that in the state of Virginia this judge cannot force a 16 year old to remain in public school if the 16 year old has taken the decision to leave school.
However, it appears this judge can override the decision a 16 year old has taken for his medical treatment and can force the 16 year to take the medical treatment the judge selects.
As an EMT I can say with confidence that they would not use duct tape but the usual soft restraints . As for the judge, well what I'm thinking of saying would get me suspended for a few weeks.
"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."
Look, it is a parents responsibility to ensure the welfare of their kids. Period. Now I dont know what the holistic vs conventional treatment success ratio is, but my moneys on the doctors. While I disgree vehemently with the governments intrusion and the strong arm tactics implied here, I still think its wrong to deny treatment based on a faith in divine intervention. Im a Catholic, and believe that faith and prayer IN TANDEM with professional care is the best route for cancer or any other potentially terminal ailment. The more I think about it, the parents are at fault here. Cure you child, then fight city hall.
If that's true, than surely an appeals court will throw out this judge's ruling as without merit.
What if Abraham were to get "married"? Would the government lose the control they're attempting here? If not, I think the emancipation idea another poster had may be a viable alternative they should at least look into.
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