Medical Decisions for your Children.

The case of Minnesota 13-year-old Daniel Hauser and his parents recently thrust the issue of religious/parental rights vs. a government's right to intervene and prevent child medical neglect in the national spotlight. This article summarizes other, similar cases and their outcomes throughout the years, making it abundently clear that the issue is far from black and white. I found it especially interesting in the article above that one set of parents would get their family dog vaccinated regularly due to legal mandates but would opt out of vaccinating their children and seeking medical treatment based upon their religious convictions.

In my opinion, there needs to be a multi-pronged approach to this medical, ethical and legal question. If the child is mature enough to understand the treatment options, risks and benefits, then the court should defer to the child's preferences as expressed through his own legal representative. However, if the child is too young, uneducated or immature to make this decision for himself, his own legal representative should, together with medical professionals and child welfare officials, collaborate to develop the appropriate treatment plan, regardless of the parents' religious beliefs. To me, doing otherwise is child neglect and endangerment.

Of course, my opinion is colored by the fact that I do not belong to a religion that eschews traditional medical treatment. But I agree that a line needs to be drawn between parental rights and state rights where medical treatment and other issues are concerned. There is a potential slippery slope if the line hovers too far toward state rights. For example, should the state intervene to require vegan parents to feed their children foods it deems more appropriate to sustain their growing bodies? Should the state be allowed to forbid a parent from homeschooling their child or treating a non-life threatening illness with homeopathic or alternative medicine rather than traditional drugs? There are already state mandates regarding child car seat use, school attendance and some vaccinations are required before children can attend daycare or public school.

What concerned me most about the Hauser case was that, although he was 13, Daniel was homeschooled, illiterate and could not even identify the word "the" when tested by a teacher for entrance into a charter school. In addition, doctors testified that chemotherapy had an over 90% success rate in curing his type of Hodgkins lymphoma. In fact, the cancer was responsive to the one treatment he previously had and grew larger once treatment stopped. I think the judge in this case did an excellent job of weighing the issues and crafting a reasonable resolution that did not separate a scared child in extreme pain from his concerned, but perhaps misguided, parents during his next set of chemotherapy treatments.

9 months old.

Kate turned 9 months old yesterday. Here she is on the swings at Patriarche Park in East Lansing last Sunday. Today, she had her 9 month well-baby visit and continues to thrive. Her iron and hemoglobin levels were excellent, and she did not have to receive any vaccinations this time. She is 22 lbs, 4 ozs (93rd percentile) and 29 inches long (91st percentile) up from 19 lbs, 11 ozs and 27 1/4 inches 3 months ago.

She is cruising on the furniture and standing alone for a few seconds at a time. Walking cannot be all that far behind. We are working on waving and feeding herself bite-sized foods. The girl loves her oat puffs and Yo Baby yogurt, fruits, veggies and some table foods but still looks at meats with derision. And, much to our chagrin, she does not understand the concept of "no!"

She loves to be sung and read to, be hung upside down, to dance with Mama or Dada and to play on the swing or slide at the playground. C takes her to an infant play group and to storytime at the public library once per week. We cannot believe it is already time to plan her first birthday party!

First Mother's Day

Grandma and Kate Mama & Kate

C bought me a dozen orange roses and three cards for Mother's Day--one from Kate (with her finger painted autograph), one from the cats and one from C. We then had brunch at my Grandma's with my Mom, Stepdad, aunts, uncle and cousins. What a perfect first Mother's Day!