I have been following with interest the story of Abraham Cherrix, the 16-year-old cancer patient who, with his parents' support, is trying to forego further chemotherapy and to try natural treatments instead. The problem is that a local social service agency, and a county judge asked to rule on the issue, disagree. They want to force Abraham to endure more chemotherapy, against his wishes.
The collectivist thinking on these things is that the government has an obligation to protect people, even from themselves. It's true that Abraham is a minor, and that someone needs to look out for his interests. Were the parents trying to get him to drink drain cleaner in the mistaken belief that his system would be somehow purified in the process, maybe there would a be a case for government intervention. That is not the case, though. They want to try 'natural' therapy.
Therein lies the problem. Although natural remedies are popular with millions of people world-wide, they sure aren't popular with the medical establishment. And the medical lobbyists do everything possible to control (eliminate?) the competition from naturopaths, homeopaths, chiropractors, and others who might offer alternative treatments. Do the practitioners of 'traditional' medicine always know what is best for us? I don't think so. Medical errors kill a lot of people every year. How many? Read this.
What about the big drug lobby that is trying to regulate vitamin and supplement use and accessibility? Do they really know what is best for us? Maybe not. Read this. Want to scare yourself silly by reading a 99 page research paper on the subject? Download it here.
This all boils down, as many things do these days, to the issue of whether you own your life or whether you merely hold it in trust for various agencies of government. If you truly own yourself, you should have the right to medicate yourself in a manner of your choice.
It appears, judging by the handling of the Abraham Cherrix case and others like it, that we don't really own ourselves.
After watching several friends die from breast cancer in the past few years, I have often wondered what I would do should I be diagnosed with cancer myself. I firmly believe that doctors are licensed to PRACTICE medicine, and I'm not too fond of them practicing on me. I am even less fond of being told what to do when it concerns my own body. I am convinced I would rather die on my own than suffer the damage chemotherapy leaves behind.
ReplyDeleteMay this poor "child", and his parents, have the right to decide what they need.
Amen.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is amazing, isn't it. A country where you can worship as a Satanist has rules that say you must use western medicine above all other types of therapies.
ReplyDeleteFreedoms.
Who are they kidding.
My Mother had breast cancer and cancer cells in 80% of her lymph nodes. They said with certainty that she'd die within five years. She did take the chemo and radiation and had the surgery. But, my father researched, ordered tests and fed her selenium at specific doses, among other mega doses of vitamins and she is alive over twelve years later.
My father had a massive heart attack and had 19% of his heart in working order. He wasn't supposed to be able to support his own body weight ever again. He went out and mowed the grass at our two lot property east of the city last week.
My cousin has neurofibromitosis and was supposed not to have lived past the age of five. He is sixteen now.
My family's previous doctor was an advocate of vitamin therapy and he was run out of the province and now practices in BC.
My family has friends who were in horrific schitzophrenic shape or who suffered from the debilitating effects of MS, who are now fine - all due to natural remedies.
We've known alcoholics and manic depressives who changed their diets and lead normal lives.
My cousin and myself suffered from Yeast syndrome for a decade each until we tried radical natural treatments and we are free from the symptoms, each of us for over a decade now.
It's ignorance and arrogance that would force a well-informed family to chose a western method of practice. This boy may well die, either way, but it's his cancer and it should be his choice.