CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Cancer returned to a 13-year-old girl because her parents fought to prevent continuing treatment, the girl’s former doctor testified Wednesday at a custody hearing.
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Katie Wernecke has been in foster care since June 4, when Nueces County sheriff’s officials took her from a family ranch where she had been hiding with her mother.
Child Protective Services officials took custody after doctors told them that the girl’s parents were risking her life by refusing radiation therapy for Hodgkin’s disease, a type of cancer that involves the lymph nodes…
The Werneckes believed that the four rounds of chemotherapy Katie had undergone destroyed the cancer and that radiation therapy was unnecessary and potentially harmful.
Edward Wernecke, Katie’s father, told The Associated Press he feared the radiation would put Katie at a heightened risk for breast cancer, stunt her growth and cause learning problems…
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Hodgkins disease is a fairly curable form of lymphoma - WTF is wrong with people?
Hypothetically? Tought shit - freedom of religion doesnt allow you to endanger your child’s health. When you’re 18 you can refuse any medical treatment you want.
The family in question is “Church of God” which doesnt allow transfusions from non-family members, but it’s not clear to me to what degree the religion has influenced the parent’s decision to not give the kid follow-up radiation treatment.
Up till this time I’ve never really been sick at all and never missed a day of school. My only symptoms when school let out for Christmas was ocassional night sweets and my skin was very itchy and I scratched my legs a lot. I learned later that these were symptoms of Hodgkin’s disease, but we had no way of knowing that at the time. Parents would be wise to have their kids checked for cancer. The chance of getting cancer today is 1 in 3. Guess I was that one. There are so many kids, some as young as 2 and 5 years old with cancer on this floor. It is sad. All I can do is ask why? It shouldn’t be that way. Someone needs to research why kids like us are getting cancer. I lead a healthy life in the country. Is it due to childhood vaccinations?
Katie
Ughh… the last line really kills me. Clearly a POV fed to her by her parents, and one that bothers the hell out of me. The whole anti-vaccination movement just makes me shake my head.
You should know that many religions forbid certain medical treatments. If that is their wish due to religion then there must be an allowance for that to be practiced and upheld. I’m not saying that this is the case in this particular matter. Whether or not you agree with the practice is of no consequence.
No Brian, that’s not the way it works when it comes to minors. The health of the child comes first, religious freedom comes second. When you are an adult you can refuse any treatment you want for yourself.
Basically, yes, that’s the law. It probably is called child endangerment, although I’m not a lawyer and it might vary state to state.
Brian, lets say your religion involved sex with minors after giving them peyote - do you think people should be free to do that under the umbrella of “freedom of religion”? There are plenty of legal precedents saying the free expression of religion is not absolute. One imnportant one (and really its just plain common sense) is that you dont endanger the health or life of your child be withholding neccessary medical treatments
I know for a FACT in Illinois a parent can decline any and all medical treatment for their child based on religion…no question, fact. May not be the same in other states, seems that is not the case here. In this instance it seems the girl WANTS help…and with that, the state should step in, have an emancipation hearing and let the legal system take over.
You know, after looking into it I think you’re right. Some states do allow witholding of medical treatment on religious exemption. I find that pretty frightening.
So let’s say you’ve got some parents who belong to some religion that say if you get this radiation treatment you can not get into heaven and will be damned for eternity. They are free to have these beliefs as our freedom of religion gives us. So now they are put in the position of extending their child’s life on Earth or condeming said child to an eternity of damnation. Should they get to make that choice? They are the parents after all. I’m sure they find the idea of their child spending eternity in damnation while they would (supposedly) be in heaven without the child to be pretty frightening also.
Just because you have your beliefs does that give you and the state the right to trounce someone else’s?
by the way I don’t belong to some weird church like that and if I did I would tell them to stick it the kid is getting the treatment. Just throwing a hypothetical out there.
That line of reasoning is nonsense. Let’s say I have a belief that I wont get into heaven unless I rape a virgin. Should society and the state respect and facilitate my beliefs?
It’s not a “belief” that radiation therapy, or immunization, or other conventional medical treatments are effective, it’s a fact.
Does anyone smell the weird hypocrisy that surrrounds this story?
Just a few months ago we were treated to the Schiuavo circus where certain religous leaders felt it was their duty to - using the arm of the government- deny the right of mr. Shiavo, who was within his rights according to the law, to determine the fate of his (ex)wife by witholding medical treatment (a feeding tube).
Fast forward to today. Now it seems to be reversed. Now certain religious leaders (among others) are up in arms because the big bad governemnt is trying to enforce the law and mandate cancer treatment for a sick girl who has been denied the same by her parents.
