Catching up with world news this morning I see a story about a girl who knows she will die without chemo. Curious I clicked the link to find that due to the girl, and her mothers air headed-ness, they had missed several doctor appointments, the courts have forced this young lady to recieve chemo.
Apparently the mother and child are both convinced they could seek out optional (I suspect some sort of idiotic homeopathic remedies) treatments.
So now this girl is locked in a hospital room recieving chemo treatment against her will, the treatment that has the highest chance of saving her young life.
I am somewhat torn on this issue. I really don’t like the notion that people can be forced to do things against their will. I don’t like that little fact at all. I also kinda feel like if people are really that lacking of cognitive skills they should be allowed to let nature run its course. On the other hand this young girl, obviously influenced by her mothers ignorance is too young really, to properly make this kind of decision on her own.
In the end I am forced to side with the courts on this one. If a parent is so… blonde, that they would let their own child (and in this case influence with bullshit) come to harm, harm that modern medicine can treat, then it is the right thing to do stepping in and doing what needs to be done.
Often in these cases you will see religious reasons cited for resisting treatment. I did not see any hints of that in the article, so this is probably just a case of regular old stupid.
I wish this young gal well, may the treatment work, and you live a long and happy life. I only hope if things work out that the family has enough sense to be grateful. I also hope that when cases like this come to light, for religious reasons or otherwise, the courts manage to step in and save the children from their own parents case of fucking duh!
Evidence Based Reality 