IMPORTANT BREAKING: Thanks to Jason Kenney in the comments, Abraham has been granted a stay. I wonder, however, whether it will do any good....
Ogre gave me a link to his story on this, and so I followed the links to the WorldNetDaily article as well as the Times Dispatch follow-up.
Ogre grabbed me with:
This case is another example of how difficult it is to fight socialism and the left in America today. This is the case, you may have heard of it, regarding Jay Cherrix. He is being told that he [sic., actually, Jay's son] will be taken by the sheriff with force and strapped down to a table and injected with drugs against his will. And no, he hasn't even come close to committing a crime.Why would the state do this? Because Jay is "only" 16 and the state knows better how to treat him than he and his family does. You see, Jay is sick. No, it's not a sickness that's contagious and could affect others, it's cancer. Jay and his family want to treat his sickness as they desire. However, the state in it's infinite wisdom, is determined the treat him against his will.
He has some very good suggestions for Jay's father oops, I mean, "Jay, the father of Abraham, who Social Services is attempting to kidnap"... and I'm glad that I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, myself!
The WorldNetDaily article begins
The father of a Virginia teen seeking an alternative treatment for his cancer says a social worker has threatened to use force to take the boy away from the family for court-ordered chemotherapy.Jay Cherrix of Chincoteague, Va., is concerned there could be an Elian Gonzalez-style showdown over his 16-year-old son, Abraham, who has already undergone chemotherapy for his Hodgkin's disease to no avail.
So this young man has already been treated with traditional chemotherapy for his cancer! It didn't work, and so he's interested in pursuing an alternative course of treatment.
Hodgkin's disease is a malignant form of cancer, and according to the National Cancer Institute,
Cancer research has led to real progress against Hodgkin's disease -- increased survival rates and improved quality of life. Most people diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease can now be cured, or their disease can be controlled for many years. Continuing research offers hope that, in the future, even more people with this disease will be treated successfully. Each achievement in laboratories and clinics brings researchers closer to the eventual control of Hodgkin's disease.
Treatments apparently include bone marrow transplant, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy among others. However, Abraham, as the article indicates, has apparently been through at least some of these treatments, which have failed. Now, Cancer.org posts these statistics:
The 1-year relative survival rate for all patients after treatment is 93%; the 5-year and 10-year rates are 85% and 77%, respectively. At 15 years, the relative survival rate is 68%. Certain factors such as the stage of the disease and a patient's age (older patients have lower survival rates) affect this. During the first 15 years after treatment, the main cause of death in these patients is recurrent Hodgkin disease. By 15 to 20 years after treatment, death due to other causes, such as developing a second type of cancer, usually caused by treatment, is more common.
So, if the treatment works, survivability apparently is pretty high. But Abraham's treatment hasn't worked, and he and his family want to try an alternative method of treatment. Sounds reasonable to me, right? But here's what the State (MY State, Virginia!!) has decided it's going to do, according to the WND article:
Appearing on Sean Hannity's national radio program yesterday, Jay Cherrix said, "When the social-service worker came and interviewed me, I told him how Abraham felt and about how we had met a person who had been cured by this [alternative treatment] and how we were supporting Abraham's decision. I said, 'What will you do with my little boy? Will you take him somewhere and strap him down and put duct tape on his mouth and pump full of this stuff if he doesn't want it?'"He said, 'No, I will come to your house with a uniformed officer, and I will take your son by force if he resists. And I will take him to somebody who will do that.'
"And I said, 'I don't think I can let you do that.'"
He added there have also been other threats to take Abraham away from the family.
"They told Abraham that if he did not go and have an X-ray, they would put him in a juvenile detention center with drug dealers. They told him that if he did not do that they would put him in a foster home. ... We never thought that people could actually say that to a young fellow like that. We've been surprised by lots of stuff but we have a strong faith and we believe that we'll prevail. We think there will be a judge that will use common sense and compassion and grant a stay on that [mandated chemotherapy] order."
What???
And this is what Abraham has to say:
"I'm not going to receive chemotherapy no matter what," Abraham said on "Hannity & Colmes" last night. "This is my body, the body that God gave to me, and in the Bible it says for me to take care of this body. It's my temple. ... If you are not able to do with your body what you want to, then you have no rights whatsoever."When asked to describe his previous chemotherapy treatment, the teen said, "It was worse than dying itself. It was more like torture."
Now, if this young man wanted to have sex with everything on two legs and risk his physical and mental health that way, Child "Protection" Services would, of course, have no objections whatsoever. But because this young man and his family wish to pursue another form of treatment, after having tried the traditional route, the government is getting into the act. (And, as an aside, I'm wondering if the family's apparent faith has anything to do with CPS's and the judge's attitude....?)
Today's Richmond Times-Dispatch says
A judge last week ordered him to be at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk by today at 1 p.m. and accept treatment prescribed by doctors.But a hearing is scheduled for today at noon in Accomack County Circuit Court to consider Cherrix's request to stay the judge's order.
Thank goodness our State Attorney General, Bob McDonnell, is supporting the family's rights!
The family remains resolved, and Abraham is steadfast:
"I'll fight until I do die. I'm not going to let it go," Cherrix told The Associated Press yesterday by phone from his home on Virginia's Eastern Shore. He said he was so weakened by three months of chemotherapy last year that at times he could barely walk. "I would rather die healthy and strong and in my house than die in a hospital bed, bedridden and unable to even open my eyes."When Cherrix's cancer came back in February, he decided to pursue an alternative remedy.
Nevertheless, CPS is stubbornly holding to its self-righteous and meddling position:
An official with the state Department of Social Services said the agency agrees with the original judge's ruling."The responsibility of Virginia's Child Protective Services program is to ensure the safety and well-being of all children in the commonwealth," Anthony Conyers Jr., commissioner of the department, said in a statement.
"One of the most difficult decisions of the CPS program requires balancing the rights of the parents with the health of the child," Conyers said. "In this case, the Department of Social Services agrees with the final decision to order treatment made by the Accomack County Juvenile and Domestic Relations [District] Court."
**Gah!** Their smarm just oozes out of their pores: "We're only doing this for the good of the child!" Pfui! They simply want to control everything that's not in strict adherence to their rules and perceptions. They never should have meddled in the first place!
I am in full agreement with Ogre:
The judge is ordering police to seize this child. The police will obey him. The only way to stop the judge and the police is to resist. In this case, with violence. Yes, it really has come to this point.And yes, if they do resist, they will certainly be killed. You see, there's more policemen than there are arms in Jay's house. And sure, the police will claim they were just following the judge's orders -- need I remind you that the Nazi guards were just following orders, too?
Every resistance has to begin somewhere.
And, of course, I'm really wanting to channel Misha here... Something about ropes and assembly....
UPDATE: My Old Dominion Blog Alliance brother, Doug has been following this case closely. In chronological order:
- The Nanny State vs. the Family
- Judge Holds Teen with Cancer in Limbo
- The Nanny State vs. the Family, Part II
- and today's post, It's D-Day for Abraham Cherrix
I strongly urge you to go read them all.
UPDATE AGAIN: This statement just released from AG McDonnell's office, via e-mail:
"This morning, I directed that an amicus brief be filed in the Circuit Court of Accomack County in the case of Abraham Cherrix. This amicus brief supports Abraham's parents' motion to delay the Juvenile Court-ordered chemotherapy treatment pending a new trial on his appeal in the Circuit Court.
All citizens are entitled to the right to appeal a district court case, and to have their case heard anew in the circuit court. If Abraham were forced to undergo the ordered medical treatment, before his appeal is heard in the Circuit Court, his case would be moot and his due process rights infringed. I trust the Circuit Court will endorse these procedural protections for Abraham."
... Which says, basically... nothing. This is disappointing; I would have hoped that AG McDonnell would have had a more decisive and assertive statement.
Doug links to Outside the Beltway (Steve Verdon) who is sceptical of the treatment, but supportive of the family's right to make these decisions. Very interesting article, I suggest you read it all.
Of course, it is tragic when somebody wants to do something like take an herbal tonic, eat only organic food and no sugar thinking it will somehow cure the Hodgkin's disease. The reality is that such a treatment will almost surely kill this kid. But, at the same time I think one should be allowed to make these decisions.
