Posted on 05/28/2009 2:53:38 AM PDT by Scanian
The parents of a 13 year old Minnesota boy, Daniel Hauser, who with their support refused chemotherapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma, have now told Judge John Rodenberg that they will agree to the treatment. Previously, they had missed a court date and fled the state in order to avoid judicially imposed chemotherapy. Their recent reversal came after they were given a choice; agree to chemotherapy for their son or lose custody of him.
This immediately brought to my mind the movie Sophie's Choice, in which the main character, a Nazi era Jewish mother of two played by Meryl Streep, revealed her terrible choice. When she arrived at Auschwitz with her children, a Nazi officer sadistically forced her to choose which one of her two children would live and which one would die. Faced with an irresolvable conflict, she made a choice that by its very nature could never be morally reconciled.
Many would disagree with the comparison. However, we are faced in both instances with a parent or parents forced to choose between two courses of action, neither of which is morally acceptable to them and in fact both of which are reprehensible to them. Daniel's parents had no choice but to acquiesce or lose their son. As a pro-life physician and a father I would of course hope that Daniel, with the good counsel of his parents and his doctors, would freely agree to undergo chemotherapy. I believe that conventional medical treatment is the only medically correct decision. If Daniel does not undergo chemotherapy, barring a miracle, he will surely die. Further, as a physician I take strong issue with his parents' beliefs regarding medicine.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
This is a tough case, but the slippery slope here is very steep.
....”If Daniel does not undergo chemotherapy, barring a miracle, he will surely die.”
1) We ALL die. We started dieing the day we were born.
2) We ALL die at different ages
3) We ALL die from different causes
Death is not cheap ... it is free. Given to each and everyone of us without our asking or consent. It is the manner of our living that brings meaning to an often sensless world.
While I would encourage my wife or child to undergo the treatement, in the end, it is their choice.
While I applaud the author for his stand against forced treatment, I must respectfully disagree with the above statements.
There have been alternatives to conventional cancer treatment for a very long time.
My family tree is also riddled with cancer; so, after I had moved out on my own, I started reading up on alternative medicine.
If I am ever diagnosed with cancer, I will choose alternative treatment over conventional.
In fact, one of the acquaintances of this boy's family is a man with the same kind of cancer the boy has, and this man had cured himself with an herbal treatment.
I'd read he has some learning difficulties. If so, then he may not have the mental capacity to make an informed choice.
The parents are too wishy-washy in their beliefs. Why take the kid to the doctor in the first place if they are truly into herbal or spiritual or whatever healing.
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