Amish Girl With Leukemia, Family Flees US to Avoid Chemotherapy

[lostinblue 1,989]

Does not the law say a girl of any age can buy a pill to possibly end a life ?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Contraception. Cancer treatment. Different f*cking issues.

[Peikko 1,575]

Does not the law say a girl of any age can buy a pill to possibly end a life ?

No. That's absurd and ridiculous. She's 10.

[sandinista! 1,816]

The rights of minors in matters of their own reproductive issue not only has nothing to do with this case, it's also patently false that OTC emergency contraception can be purchased by 4th graders. It's FDA approved for 15+. Fail, and fail.

[sandinista! 1,816]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/faith-healing-religious-freedom-vs-child-protection/

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/faith-healing-religious-freedom-vs-child-protection/

Why do you hate America, sandinista?

[sandinista! 1,816]

I hate kids dying, and when said death is possibly preventable, it crushes my heart like nothing much else in this world can.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

I hate kids dying, and when said death is possibly preventable, it crushes my heart like nothing much else in this world can.

A. and I have been to some pretty desperately poor countries in the world. Places where there is no such thing as chemotherapy, or it's only a luxury of the rich. I think if parents of dying children in said countries were to hear of parents in the US or Europe who have access to treatments proven effective but instead let their children die for religious reasons, they would rise up in bitter anger and anguish. We have no idea how lucky we are to live in a country with access to cutting edge scientific and medical advancements. The things we take for granted boggles my mind. My closest childhood friend wouldn't be alive today if not for catching his leukemia early and the very effective chemotherapy he was given.

[sandinista! 1,816]

A. and I have been to some pretty desperately poor countries in the world. Places where there is no such thing as chemotherapy, or it's only a luxury of the rich. I think if parents of dying children in said countries were to hear of parents in the US or Europe who have access to treatments proven effective but instead let their children die for religious reasons, they would rise up in bitter anger and anguish. We have no idea how lucky we are to live in a country with access to cutting edge scientific and medical advancements. The things we take for granted boggles my mind. My closest childhood friend wouldn't be alive today if not for catching his leukemia early and the very effective chemotherapy he was given.

This, so so so much!

It's one of the biggest reasons the first world anti-vaccine crowd makes me so riled up too. If they had a ####ing clue...

[mota bhai 2,675]

I hate kids dying, and when said death is possibly preventable, it crushes my heart like nothing much else in this world can.

What if you went back in time and baby Hitler was dying of a preventable disease... would it break your heart to see him die of it?

You have two ways out of this. You can either go on record as loving Adolf Hitler or go on record as LYING ON VJ. I should tell you, LYING ON VJ is much worse.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I love Adolph's!

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

What if you went back in time and baby Hitler was dying of a preventable disease... would it break your heart to see him die of it?

You have two ways out of this. You can either go on record as loving Adolf Hitler or go on record as LYING ON VJ. I should tell you, LYING ON VJ is much worse.

Whatever it is you habitually smoke, I want.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Contraception. Cancer treatment. Different f*cking issues.

Some people can link anything to abortion if they try hard enough.

This, so so so much!

It's one of the biggest reasons the first world anti-vaccine crowd makes me so riled up too. If they had a ####ing clue...

Oh god, don't get me started on the anti-vaccination people. Total ignorance.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

You do know she's 10? Are you seriously saying a 10 year old would be able to make that decision independently of her parent's influence? This will end badly. The girl will suffer and it will be the parent's fault. The courts are not going to pursue this, which is right, they have tried to intervene and do the right thing, the parents are taking extraordinary steps to evade a legal decision that is based on ensuring the child's best interests. This is not a case of government going too far, ti's a case of the law trying to ensure a 10 year old does not suffer unnecessarily.

I don't really have an argument for what you said but on the highlighted line: The story does not say what stage she is in or how much treatment she had already received. My father died of Leukemia a few years ago after going through three full rounds of treatment. The first round bought him a year and a half of good life. When the cancer came back the second and third rounds bought him nothing put pain and suffering for the few months before he died a horrible death.

My mother currently has stage four breast cancer, she has been through one round of treatment and was given a maximum of 2 years to live. She takes a constant stream of low level chemo and an experimental drug that has done wonders to slow down (but not stop) the cancer. The last lymph node to get a lump is halfway up the side of her neck and she is sure the vital organ that will get the cancer that will end her life will be the brain. She has refused to undergo a second round after seeing what it did to her husband and looking at the stats and quality of life with going past second rounds.

So these people are Amish.. They initially agreed to the treatment so they are not completely out of touch with reality. After watching the effects on their daughter (and we don't know what they were told as far a long term prognosis) they panicked and looked for something with a better (albeit most likely false) promise.

A quote from the father:

"If we do chemotherapy and she would happen to die, she would probably suffer more than if we would do it this way and she would happen to die," he said.

If they are sure she is going to die with or without the chemotherapy they are grasping at straws looking for hope - I think they are making the wrong choice but depending on the condition (and long term prospects) of their daughter I'm not 100% convinced that it is not their choice to make.

Edited December 2, 2013 by OnMyWayID

[mota bhai 2,675]

Whatever it is you habitually smoke, I want.

Sorry, you don't strike me as someone who has any money.