WHO OWNS YOUR CHILD?
PART 2 of 2

 

 

 

 

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, DO
July 25, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

Parent Rights and the Foundation for Medical Neglect

When it comes to making decisions about their children, parents have few rights, as demonstrated by the Abraham Cherrix case and others. The concept of the State control of children came from antiquity when Plato first suggested the mechanism for a state-provided public education. He advocated removing children from their parents� care and raising them as wards of the State. It is interesting that in 1918, at the congress of the Communist Party education workers in Russia it was asserted, "We must remove the children from the crude influence of their families.�[1]

The enforcement mechanism for �educational neglect�[2] �such as truancy and in some cases, homeschooling[3] --belongs to teachers and social workers. In medical decisions, physicians are charged with forcing medical �standard of care� treatments on children of unwilling parents. Doctors not only have the right to step in, they are mandated by state law to report medical abuse and neglect to Children�s Services. The decision is usually made when a physician feels the action�or inaction�of a parent places the child in danger of death or disability. A common occurrence is when a parent, who is a Jehovah�s Witness, refuses a blood transfusion for their child on religious grounds.

Wide support and extensive court precedence exists backing a doctor�s decision to call Children�s Services. The rationale for this authority is clearly described in a 1996 paper that states, "Whether (the guardians) are sincere, sane, and in every other capacity model parents, their insistence upon treatment that is scientifically inferior to conventionally accepted treatment is abusive, even if their intent is not."[4]

Because the State agrees with the premise that the �doctor knows best,� parents are deemed �unfit� when they refuse a suggested conventional medical treatment. Social workers have the power to seize the child once notified by a physician that they have an obstreperous patient on their hands. Police agencies have been known to enforce the decision at gunpoint.

The current system was set up to protect obviously abused and neglected children. It would provide adequate protection if medical professionals were amenable to common sense. In the case of Abraham Cherrix, the parents respected and liked their conventional oncologist enough to inform her of their decision, wanting to include her in Abraham�s ongoing care. The outcome attests to the current mess our medical system is in. Unfortunately, common sense isn�t very common these days and disagreeing with your doctor can lead to removal of your child from your home.

Modern medicine operates under the pretense that it is �science based.� It claims that its therapies have been developed through the research Gold Standard: the double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, cross-over study. However, the majority of medical therapies have never been subjected to this type of analysis. Evidence-based medicine has only been underway since 1990. The list of standard medical therapies that have proven to be worthless after they were scrutinized is long. Tens of thousands of people have suffered through the use of �usual and customary� therapies before they were proven to be useless.[5] The implication that the alternative practices sought by the Cherrix family are �unproven and dangerous� may very well be said about the conventional treatments being forced on him by his oncologists.

What you can do

Currently the American Association of Health Freedom (AAHF) is reaching out to Congress to urgently have a medical hearing over this case. It has been done before, with the Terri Schiavo case, and it can be done again. AAHF is the politically active voice at the federal level, fighting to change laws that restrict a patient�s choice and a practitioner�s ability to provide alternative medical treatments. As the VP of the Board of Directors for AAHF, I strongly encourage parents and doctors alike to support their work. Consumers can join the lobbying efforts for as little as $20 per year; or larger, tax-deductible donations can be made to the Health Freedom Foundation. Please contact AAHF at 800-230-2762 and www.healthfreedom.net for more information on how to get involved. For part 1 click nelow.

Click here for part -----> 1

Footnotes:

1. "The Free Market and Education," by Ken Schoolland. The Future of Freedom Foundation. January, 1996.
2. "King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.
3. A Brief Review of Educational Neglect & Compulsory Schooling: A Status Report." Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. National Home Education Research Institute. Jan. 28, 2006.
4. Rosen P. Religious freedom and forced transfusion of Jehovah's Witness children. J Emer Med. 1996;14:241-243.
5. "Off-Label Use of Prescription Drugs should be Regulated by the FDA." Harvard Law Review.

� 2006 Sherri Tenpenny - All Rights Reserved