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Suit Says Baby's Seizure Violated Rights
The Guardian ^ | October 26, 2007 | Anna Jo Bratton

Posted on 10/31/2007 1:09:33 PM PDT by 3Lean

By ANNA JO BRATTON

Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A Nebraska couple sued state health officials Thursday, arguing their rights were violated when their newborn baby was seized by sheriff's deputies so a mandatory blood test could be performed.

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; US: Nebraska
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To: wideawake
I'm not sure where the Constitution guarantees the right to be a lousy parent.

It's right next to the clause that says the state must prevent bad parenting.

21 posted on 10/31/2007 1:56:44 PM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: Old Mountain man

I told her that but it didn’t work :)


22 posted on 10/31/2007 2:01:35 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: ItsOurTimeNow

Nah, God can change his name if He feels like it. There’s less paperwork involved that way. Jacob’s a great name! I think it’s wonderful that your little girl has a little brother who is her brother in so many ways. God has truly blessed you.


23 posted on 10/31/2007 2:04:04 PM PDT by JenB (1 day to go until NaNoWriMo starts: Word Count 0/50000)
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To: Resolute Conservative
Your wife is a fascist. She may think that she has special knowledge in this area because of her education. That does not give her the intelligence or the right to impose her "expertise" on others.

I am Satellite Communications engineer...I have no right to dictate which satellite TV provider people should use.

24 posted on 10/31/2007 2:05:32 PM PDT by Washi (Support the country you live in, or go live in the country you support.)
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To: ItsOurTimeNow; Resolute Conservative
So - should the Nanny State have not gotten involved in the first place?

We adopted from a mother who was two seconds away from getting the baby taken away by the state much in the same circumstances as you. There are times the state does indeed need to step in. Most of the adopted kids I know were rescued from deplorable "birth givers" (I won't say "parents" because they weren't).

I was also a CPS worker and saw horrible situations. One such was a common law couple who couldn't understand why their 6-8 children were handicapped and/or had died. It didn't take much investigation to find out they were half brother and sister. I sooo agree the state needed to step in on that one and stop them from having any more children.

25 posted on 10/31/2007 2:07:05 PM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: ShadowAce
It's right next to the clause that says the state must prevent bad parenting.

Well said!

26 posted on 10/31/2007 2:08:02 PM PDT by American Quilter (The urge to save humanity is nearly always a cover for the urge to rule. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: Washi

She tried to practice her fascism at home but my totalitarian dictatorship overrules her, some of the time, other we just spiral into anarchy.


27 posted on 10/31/2007 2:08:09 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: Resolute Conservative

She is a mental health professional. I understand. One of my former wives is also a mental health professional who claims to never be wrong.


28 posted on 10/31/2007 2:08:25 PM PDT by Old Mountain man (Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice!)
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To: MPJackal
And just who makes that decision, and what are the criteria? The possibility for abuse is enormous. “Oh that is an unsafe household, they have guns, go to church, disagree with homosexuality, are to outspoken against the government,..................”

I agree. When it comes to any government social program, my tagline applies.

29 posted on 10/31/2007 2:10:40 PM PDT by American Quilter (The urge to save humanity is nearly always a cover for the urge to rule. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: mtbopfuyn
I was also a CPS worker and saw horrible situations.

I take my hat off to you for your strength of character. It must be hard to sleep sometimes after seeing children who've been neglected or abused.

30 posted on 10/31/2007 2:14:03 PM PDT by American Quilter (The urge to save humanity is nearly always a cover for the urge to rule. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: wideawake
I'm not sure where the Constitution guarantees the right to be a lousy parent.

Where does it guarantee the right to not be a lousy parent? Quality of parenting is not a Constitutional issue. That kind of thinking smacks of a nanny state mentality.

31 posted on 10/31/2007 2:27:30 PM PDT by LiteKeeper (Beware the secularization of America; the Islamization of Eurabia)
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To: CholeraJoe
CholeraJoe said: Those "mandatory" blood tests are to screen for genetic diseases that if left untreated will (not might) result in mental retardation, disability and early death.

I don't think you are going to like the world you are creating.

It was really quite satisfying recently to see Ellen DeGeneris reduced to tears over having given up her authority to dispose of a pet. She no doubt supports every liberal idea regarding giving bureaucrats power over pets, never realizing that substituting the decisions of a bureaucrat over her own would result in less freedom for her and an outcome which she considered unjust.

Just what limits to government power regarding children's health do you see? Testing for a known condition is just the first step. Then does the government mandate treatment? Who pays? You and ME?

Assuming that there is some danger to a course of treatment, what say do the parents have in avoiding that danger despite government mandates?

How much reduction of life span justifies government intervention? Fifty years? Twenty? Two? What level of potential disability results in loss of parental authority?

You do realize, don't you, that technology will continue to make enormous amounts of predictive information available to parents and the government. Does this mean that parents lose all decision-making authority because the government can make a prediction?

I believe that if you are not willing to imprison a parent for neglect, then you have no business meddling in that parent's business. But I only say that because I value the freedom I have more than the desire to mandate specific outcomes for other people.

32 posted on 10/31/2007 2:33:06 PM PDT by William Tell (RKBA for California (rkba.members.sonic.net) - Volunteer by contacting Dave at rkba@sonic.net)
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To: Resolute Conservative

Ask her what happens when Hillary or someone else on the left gets to define exactly how are “parents who cannot make safe decisions for their kids”

Hand the government that kind of gun and *eventually* they will point it at you..


33 posted on 10/31/2007 2:33:45 PM PDT by N3WBI3 (Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you. -- Londo Mollari)
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To: 3Lean
OK, lets hear from the “Cops can do no wrong” crowd on why its OK to just be “following orders” when you seize someone’s infant. Aren’t Law Enforcement Officers required to disregard an unlawful or unjust order like the military, if not legally, then certainly morally?
34 posted on 10/31/2007 2:41:00 PM PDT by Natural Law
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To: 3Lean

I have no problem with the mandatory blood screen. But the way it was handled boggles the mind. Taking a newborn away from the family for FIVE DAYS over a blood draw?

If the baby was born in a hospital, the blood should have been drawn before discharge. If born at home, the “state” should have arrived there with a court order, trooper, and nurse. The nurse could have taken the blood in a few minutes and the whole thing would have been over.


35 posted on 10/31/2007 2:49:45 PM PDT by freespirited (I'm voting for the GOP nominee.)
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To: Resolute Conservative
She tried to practice her fascism at home but my totalitarian dictatorship overrules her, some of the time, other we just spiral into anarchy.

LOL! I needed that levity.

36 posted on 10/31/2007 3:01:25 PM PDT by OB1kNOb (Support Duncan Hunter for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee. He is THE conservative candidate!!)
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To: MPJackal

Should JWs be allowed to refuse blood transfusions for their children?


37 posted on 10/31/2007 3:04:51 PM PDT by ShandaLear (Extremists always meet each other full circle.)
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To: 3Lean
Well, they took the issue to a judge, and the judge ordered them to take the child into custody and perform the tests.

I don't believe that the state should be requiring that these tests be performed, but it doesn't sound like they ignored due process.

38 posted on 10/31/2007 3:07:10 PM PDT by untrained skeptic
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To: William Tell
I believe that if you are not willing to imprison a parent for neglect, then you have no business meddling in that parent's business.

I am willing to imprison any parent for neglect, and to remove parental rights.

A child with phenylketonuria will cost about $100,000 a year to keep and maintain if they are not properly diagnosed and treated. They might live for 20 years as a burden on the government. A child with the same disease diagnosed in early infancy can be properly treated for about $10,000 a year for 18 years, and then live a normal life for 50+ more, working and paying taxes.

No one has the right to sentence a child to a shortened life of bedridden retardation, when the problem can be completely avoided with proper treatment. The only way to diagnose these diseases early enough to treat is with neonatal screening.

39 posted on 10/31/2007 3:07:27 PM PDT by CholeraJoe ("Gunners til I die!")
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To: wideawake
I'm not sure where the Constitution guarantees the right to be a lousy parent.

It doesn't.

Nor does it give the government the right to anything not specifically outilined in the document. "Parenting" is among those items in which the government has no right to interfere.

40 posted on 10/31/2007 3:11:05 PM PDT by Washi (Support the country you live in, or go live in the country you support.)
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