An interesting article came out today about a 13 year old boy who, due to religious beliefs, is refusing chemotherapy.

His parents believe in natural care and do not want to expose him to chemotherapy. He had one treatment and didn’t return for follow ups. According to the article the mom is treating the boy with herbal supplements, ionized water, vitamins and other natural alternatives.

The question here is, does the court have a right to force an underage child to receive medical care? What if people want to try a different method of treatment?

Where this gets sticky is he is a minor. If this were an adult then it is a no brainer, you get to treat yourself how you want.

Let’s assume that the court is operating with the best of intentions, for sure they don’t want to see anyone get hurt. My question is this: who gets to decide what is and isn’t medical neglect. If a person chooses not to vaccinate their children, has researched it and came to their own conclusions, are they guilty of neglect?

What about the person that feeds their kids McDonalds 6 times a week, are they being neglectful?

While I applaud anyone who doesn’t want to see kids get hurt, we are starting down a slippery slope of judging what people believe.

If you want to read the whole article you can see it here