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This seems like another "war-on-woman", keep-government-hands-off-of-my-body issue.
It pretty much is. Well, I never thought of it as a war on WOMEN so much, but it certainly is a war on parental sovereignty--which, except in extreme cases (and this to me is not an extreme case), should be absolute and above reproach. Otherwise, you might as well rename us "The North Korean States of America" or the like.
What would lead you to believe this mother is exercising sound judgment here?
Sound judgment doesn't mean the decision is the one we want it to be. It's not "if you do what I want, that's sound, if you want to do or try to do something different, you are not exercising sound judgment."
Or at least it should not be. If you're brain-dead or barely able to form sentences or in a coma or legally deranged and hopelessly schizophrenic, that's not a sound mind. If you have a reasonable ability to reason and remember, that's enough in my opinion.
However, I know we have lawyers in our midst. The thread title would have been better replacing the word "Does" with the word "Should." Obviously she doesn't have the legal right to refuse, by definition, because these people are forcing it on her. I'm sure they've dotted all their Is and crossed all their Ts. And I'm sure there's some "sound mind" definition that is quite different than what I'm stating above.
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Aside: I think alternative medicine, as a whole, is kind of dumb. But chemo (and other unrelated modern medical practices) can be dumb too. Someday (I hope) future people will look back at how we treated cancer and just shake their heads, the way we look at trepanning to release evil spirits. My father was a physician for forty years and went through chemo for Hep. He's been quite clear he will not be undergoing anything other than palliative care if he's diagnosed with any form of cancer that might warrant chemo.
I don't think I would opt for chemo treatment, either. Would depend on the circumstances but I wouldn't automatically opt for it by any means. And a state that would force it on me anyway would be plain evil. But I don't have kids or pets (so no dependents and no one I would be making a decision for).
What kind of mother wouldn't want their child to do whatever is necessary if there is an 85% chance of survival? I think the mother has made her daughter afraid to do chemotherapy because she herself would be afraid to do it. Chemo is no picnic true enough, but you do whatever is necessary to survive. I didn't want to do it either years ago and I was in terror of going through it. With the improvements in anti-nausea treatment, it wasn't as bad as I imagined. I had numb toes on my right foot for a year, and my eyelashes never grew back the way they used to be. A small price to pay for life because here I am 15 years later. What if because of my own fear my mother said "Oh sure honey, don't do chemo it's poison and you have the right to do what you want with your own body." I wouldn't be here to talk about it. Many teenagers and even young adults in their 20s suffer from the imagined invincibility of youth and think that nothing really bad will happen to them. This poor girl may have thought that she would the one to beat the odds and that nothing as dreadful as death would really happen to her.
I don't think the government is overstepping in this instance and they are trying to give her a chance to save her own life.
I think that the health officials have every right in the world to thoroughly educate the teenager regarding her particular situation. I do not agree that they have the right to force treatment.
I think she has every right to turn down the treatment being forced upon her.
Her mom (b/c the girl is an unemancipated minor) has every right to refuse the treatment for her daughter, especially since this is in keeping with the daughter's heartfelt conviction & free will.
Unfortunately, they live in CT - a heavy-handed state known for disregarding citizens' best interest in favor of advancing the govt's agenda. (remember the Kelo case?) If the daughter was an adult, the state would have no authority to direct her medical care; they are abusing child-welfare laws in order to subject her to a medical procedure against her will. It is sadly ironic & outrageous that child welfare laws are being used AGAINST the best interest of a child.
I really hope a non-profit law center will take this girl's case - and win.
It is sadly ironic & outrageous that child welfare laws are being used AGAINST the best interest of a child. .
The child welfare laws are working just as they are supposed to in this case. It is not in her best interest to go untreated, and her reasons for not wanting it have been thoroughly explored here. Fear of hair loss, nausea, and fatigue is not a reason to forgo life saving treatment.
If this girl/woman is 17 or 16, yes I think she has the right to decide for themselves. Why is she allowed the right to decide to end a child's life with abortion, but not make decisions about her own life?
IMHO, all these laws that have differing treatment for when is one an adult depending on the situation are silly. Just have one or two ages, like 16 and 18. But 18 you're a full fledged adult, you can vote, sign a contract, get married, drink alcohol. It would also make these kids grow up faster, making them responsible for their own actions. I'd revive the battle cry of the 60's. "I'm old enough to kill for the army, but not drink a beer?"
Just curious, would anyone out there say chemo for something so "treatable" should be forced on even an adult who does not want it?
Why did you put treatable in quotations? Do you believe it is not treatable?
No, I don't believe it should be forced on an adult.
But there are reasons why children are not adults, one of them being that they're still too young to realize their parents are fallible (in this case read: complete moron) and have not yet learned to make up their own mind under their own influence about very important things that will impact the rest of their lives.
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