An appeals court has overturned the ruling of a Medina County, Ohio Juvenile and Probate Judge who upheld parental rights not to seek chemotherapy in the case of a 10-year-old Amish girl diagnosed with leukemia. As The Daily Sheeple previously reported, Judge John Lohn twice ruled that the girl’s parents should be allowed to make medical decisions for their child, and that includes their right to choose natural remedies over chemotherapy treatments that the parents testified were making their daughter terribly ill.
Now an appeals court has overturned that ruling, as CBS News reports:
Now an appeals court has overturned that ruling, as CBS News reports:
The court ruled that an attorney who’s also a registered nurse should be granted limited guardianship over the girl, Sarah Hershberger, and the power to make medical decisions for her. Doctors at Akron Children’s Hospital believe Sarah’s leukemia is treatable but says she will die without chemotherapy. The hospital went to court after the family decided to stop chemotherapy and treat Sarah with natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins.
The appeals court ruling, issued last week, overturns a judge’s decision that said that keeping the parents from making medical decisions for their daughter would take away their rights. “While we respect the wishes of the parents and believe them to be honest and sincere, we are unwilling to adhere to the wishes of the parents,” the appeals court judges wrote.
The beliefs and convictions of the parents can’t outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child, the court said. It also ordered that the guardian should be appointed right away. [emphasis added]
In other words, under the guise that “beliefs and convictions of the parents can’t outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child,” the State has the ability to simply take away a parent’s right to weigh medical options and ultimately decide what is best for his or her child. This is not the first time in recent years such a ruling has been made in regards to children with cancer. -
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