Increasingly, state governments are determining what treatments a child can and cannot have—regardless of parents’ wishes. Three shocking stories prove the point.
In April 2003, Barbara Jensen took her son Parker, then twelve years old, to an oral surgeon to have a small growth removed from his tongue. The growth was diagnosed as Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The medical center at the University of Utah recommended surgery and chemotherapy. The chemotherapy was very aggressive and ran the risk of making Parker sterile and stunting his growth. The parents refused treatment even though doctors said chemotherapy was imperative, and instead sought second and third opinions (they believed he had been misdiagnosed) and considered alternative therapies.
The doctor who provided the diagnosis went to the state Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and filed a medical neglect complaint against the Jensens in juvenile court, obtained a court order requiring chemotherapy, and a judge ordered the state of Utah to take custody of the boy.
The Jensens violated the order by moving to Idaho, whereupon they were charged with kidnaping and custodial interference. Parker’s father, Daren Jensen, was arrested, spent four nights in jail, and lost his job. Under political pressure the DCFS dismissed the petition, the criminal charges were downgraded to custodial interference, the parents were given one year of probation, and the record was finally expunged.
However, the deal that the Jensens struck also stipulated that they would take Parker to an oncologist of their choice in Idaho, and follow the doctor’s advice. On September 26, 2003, the Jensens announced that no cancer had been found, though a report later that week contradicted that information, claiming that chemo was being called for.
Parker never did have chemotherapy, the state eventually backed down under media scrutiny, and the 2004 and 2005 sessions of Utah’s state assembly were rife with “Parker Jensen laws” to protect the rights of parents.
In 2005, the Jensens sued University of Utah doctors and DCFS workers, arguing that Article 1 of the Utah Constitution includes “the fundamental right to make decisions regarding one’s family, including health matters.” The case was eventually heard by the Utah Supreme Court. Its March 29 ruling found that Parker Jensen and his parents have no legal claim against the state, its employees, or the doctors who turned him into DCFS.
Happily, Parker is alive and well at 20 years old. It is very possible he never had cancer. The conventional medical paradigm is quick to diagnose and prescribe aggressive, toxic treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery—despite the fact that it is not always effective and often dangerous. We shouldn’t penalize patients simply for looking for alternative treatments.
The police state is also a major force in Nevada. In March, Lincoln and Cecilia Rogers’s baby, Lilia, was born with mild jaundice. The hospital wanted to keep the child in the Neonatal ICU for treatment. The couple wanted to take the baby home and explore natural treatments, so they got a second opinion from a pediatrician at the hospital.
The pediatrician said they could take the baby home if they signed a medical release form. But a nurse called Child Protective Services and the police, because the parents did not agree to the hospital-recommended treatment: placing the child in isolation to undergo phototherapy, and being fed artificially with formula—despite the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that jaundiced newborns continue to breastfeed regularly, as frequent feedings help remove bilirubin in the body. A police officer was sent to her room just hours after giving birth, and CPS told them “they were going to take the baby and put her in that incubator no matter what.”
About 65 parents, midwives, and birth professionals staged a protest outside the hospital on March 30. Baby Lilia is healthy and at home with her parents.
Not only were the parents not given the right to explore alternative options—like breastfeeding!—but the action is against Nevada’s Child Welfare Policy. It says that a child is not abused or neglected if a “parent or guardian, in good faith, selects and depends upon non-medical remedial treatment for such child, if such treatment is recognized and permitted under the laws of this State in lieu of medical treatment.…” Child protection laws are meant to protect against abuse and neglect—not as a proxy for forcing conventional treatments.
The police state exists in Europe, too. Two vegan parents in a small village 90 miles north of Paris called an ambulance because their 11-month-old child was dying. The ambulance arrived too late.
After learning that the couple were vegans, doctors ordered an autopsy, which revealed that the baby was deficient in vitamins A and B12, which experts say increases a child’s sensitivity to infection. The deficiency was assumed to be linked to the mother’s vegan diet.
As Mike Adams noted, “If the ambulance had shown up and found a dead baby in a family whose cupboards were stuffed full of junk food and fast food [it] would not have seemed suspicious at all….It is only the fact that the parents were vegans that the police were called.”
That couple is now on trial, charged with “neglect or food deprivation followed by death,” and are facing up to 30 years in prison.
As tragic as this story is, it should be noted that governments are quick to make examples of people who pursue alternative (in this case, vegan) lifestyles, yet turn a blind eye to the numerous health problems caused by artificial sweeteners and junk food, all backed by big business.
It should also be noted that it is entirely possible to have a healthy vegan lifestyle by carefully planning a diet rich in the necessary vitamins and supported with nutritional supplements. Of course, this may be easier said than done, with our health system not making access to this type of information very easy and with the European Union clamping down on traditional treatments and products.
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Just because people believe in an alternative lifestyle/different religious beliefs should not be grounds for the government to harass people, threatening jail, fines, dictating treatments and/or removal of children, etc.
We already have rights under the constitution and now we have to fight for the rights we already have…what’s wrong with this picture? Christ said, they will do to you as they have done to me and they truly will feel they are right. But, most of us know they are not always right. And so does God. So, what to do? We need to pray about these things and ask that Gods will be done…and keep on fighting to do the right thing for others.
Another prime example of too much government with no common sense.
Also a healtthy nutritarian vegan diet would prevent many illnesses. It would feed the world. People could be saved from starvation if the land was used to raise grain for the people not the animals. Check the facts and statistics. They are all out there.
We in the USA need a Healthcare Rights Amendment (HRA) enacted that would provide:
Congress shall make no law that restricts any individual’s right to choose and to practice the type of healthcare they shall elect for themselves or their children for the prevention or treatment of any disease, injury, illness or ailment of the body or the mind.
In 1990 we got over 100,000 signatures for that amendment and presented them to HHS Secretary since the White House refused to accept them and made arrangements for us to present them to HHS. It’s about time we think of working for a Healthcare Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees our health rights since so many want to take them away from us, as these articles demonstrate.
Don’t forget the case of baby Joseph in Canada whose parent were told he was not going to survive and was in a persistant vegetative state. The hospital wanted to take him off his ventilator. The parent requested a treach tube be put in so that they could take him home and he could die in peace surrounded by thier love. The hospital refused and insisted on forcing their plan of treatment on the family.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-baby-joseph-case-affects-us-all/
I am in my mid-eightues have five grown children, eight grandchildren ,and ten great grands.
Somehow we have all remained healthy and SURVIVED without any intervention of so-called experts.Once upon a time parents were only “attacked” if a child was physically injured by a parent. Some parents were given the right to refuse innoculations if it was against their religion.
What became of the “FREE country” our ancestors fought for? Who made these “so-called” “experts” demi-gods? I am appalled!
Esther Knott says:
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April 5, 2011 at 5:40 pm
I am in my mid-eightues have five grown children, eight grandchildren ,and ten great grands.
Somehow we have all remained healthy and SURVIVED without any intervention of so-called experts.Once upon a time parents were only “attacked” if a child was physically injured by a parent. Some parents were given the right to refuse innoculations if it was against their religion.
What became of the “FREE country” our ancestors fought for? Who made these “so-called” “experts” demi-gods? I am appalled!
Mike Adams is a fool and hasn’t got an idea of anything other than what he is told by his Taiwanese (unidentified) backers
The best health care and democracy that corporate money can buy.
It is important that protest be made whenever a blatant
injustice is being perpetrated by the Pharma Police.
There are more of us than them!
I choose not to take pharmaceuticals, that have harmful side effects that can lead to death or various impairments, and take vitamins, and supplements, that have in some instances, eradicated diseases that the medical profession has stated, are irreversible, ie RA.
It is my right to choose what I wish to consume or put in my body….and it must be the right of every parent, to choose the type of medical care that her child receives. I will not be a victim of the pharmaceuticals, or the FDA, misinformation, or medical practitioners who receive little, or no, training in nutrition….doctors who receive kickbacks for dispensing medical samples.
The drug war we face is overseen by the government. It exists within the right of pharmaceuticals to dispense their posion through advertising and the doctors who are interested in treating ailments, superficially and who are not interested in understanding how the body can heal itself if given the right treatment and support.
I am heartbroken, and fearful, about the world our children, and grandchildren will inherit, as our air, land, and water suffers extreme pollution and the government, elected to protect our interests, continues to serve the interests of those who have a vested interest in keeping our population sick and diseased.
Vaccination is another area where people rely on their oponion or propaganda as truth and run off to the big brother to save you .
And this is one of the reasons I never want to have kids. I could never be so selfish as to subgect an innocent kid to something as horrific as vaccines and chemo.
Great report!
There’s another case of child being taken away when her mom sought different treatment. This one in Detroit: daughter acting out after vaccinations, sees doctor who prescribes antipsychotics, which make her worse with side effects (possibly irreversible). Mom sees another doctor who recommends weaning her off it. CPS shows up at the door to take the kid away.
This mom defends her child by pulling a gun against people coming to take her child away for no good reason and holds off police for 12 hours before finally letting them in and gets jailed. Now there’s a story that the child (13) may have been sexually assaulted while in state custody. Not a good situation.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/tag/maryanne-godboldo/
http://the-classic-liberal.com/maryanne-godboldo-released-jail/
http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5998
I posted the same story. That poor women. While I agree firing a gun was a stupid idea, should could have ended up dead, I can only imagine what I would have done in that situation. Probably something stupid too.
Excellent points! Keep up the good work!
Wow i can’t believe this. I to am a person who prefers a natural course for my care. I do however go and have blood test done from time to time so i know if i need to supplement, recently i was told if i diden’t have a mamagram i would have to find another primary doc. and that i had 30 days to do so. I do have things checked just not the traditional way. They claim that its the fault of the insurance co. who penalizes them if they don’t make there patients comply.
This is barbaric, oppressive treatment, denying parents and individuals freedom of choice in health and medical options. It is also biased toward big business interests. It is cruel, and lacks common sense.
I was horrified by these stories, until I got to the one about the vegan parents. Sorry, There is NO WAY you can raise a child who is healthy and thriving on a vegan diet. That is ridiculous. Children need nutrient rich protein and fats to grow up healthy and strong. Those parents SHOULD be brought up on charges.
While I agree that we need rich protein and fats to grow healthy, I disagree that parents should be brought up on charges. Therein lies our problems. Many people have different opinions about health care and everybody thinks they have truth and that everyone else must conform. THIS IS THE PROBLEM!!!!!! Stop making laws that force everyone else to conform. We are supposed to be in a free country. It will never be free if everyone keeps fighting to get their belief system into law that forces everyone else to do what they believe is right. I am a health care provider myself and although I totally disagree with parents who feed their children McDonalds, I will fight for their right to do so. If we want to force our ideas on everybody else, we are no better than the government forcing their ideas on us. We are a bunch of control freaks and want the world to see things the way we do. This has been a problem throughout history. It’s not religion that causes wars, it’s controlling others that causes wars. Leave people alone, let them be, live your own life, and keep government out of it and most of all do not make laws for everything. We are better off without them.
So what is wrong with putting this info with the NAMES of the physicians (and others) involved on Angies List with the entire story?
It pays to know exactly what the LAW is. I go through doctors till I find a good one and then try to keep her. I’ve had the same lawyer for 35 years now though. When I fill out paperwork I always put my attorney’s name down as having access to my records.
The Raw vegan seminar I attended was big on fats and protein. the lady cured herself of cervical cancer with this diet..No chemo, radiation, nothing. If she did Drs. still only would give her 1 1/2 – 2yrs. to live…she is thriving now 3 1/2 years later no cancer..one needs to investigate all b4 forming a prejudiced opinion and the think that is the way others have to live..thats our problem here in America, that kind of thinking leads to this … http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php?id=6056#newspost . the lady in Detroit whose daughter was ruined from state policy of vaccinations, then state was forcing her to give risperdol which made her daughter worse,as she sought ought a holistic dr ,daughter was getting better, state removed daughter.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-VouCjp_eI&feature=share ..Cbs news risperdol side effects in children..becsause of 1 sided belief.
What is absurd is that the courts or the states or some form of governance or the judiciary is requiring parents to have children treated, but who is paying for that treatment? Are the same entities that are enforcing this putting up the money? If so, there may be many parents who would “deny” their kids’ treatment to put the wheels in motion.
Our country is something like 37th in the health of its citizens while at number one in spending for health care. What is wrong with this picture? Looks to me like our representatives in government have sold out to big pharma.
When parents can have their children taken away for opting out of a corrupt system, then that system needs to be changed. The only way our representatives are going to change our so-called “health care” system is to make it worse. So, if we can’t count on the government to solve the problem, then we the people have to solve it. After all it’s supposed to be our government.
If the people of Egypt can oust their ruthless dictator by using the power of electronic communications, then we should be able to change our broken health care system using that same power. We need to start spreading the word wherever we can, however we can.
I am starting today.
I just read a story like this locally, makes me truly ill. I only wonder what my response would be if someone came to take my children. I imagine I’d act in a similar way.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/03/was_a_detroit_mother_right_to.html
Having freedom of choice for my health care is something I hold dear. The so-called Health Care Bill which is really a Dictator Bill, says I have to have medical ins. which I don’t want and don’t need. That bill takes my freedom of choice completely away, and into the arms of Big Pharma, the AMA, FDA and medical doctors chosen by the Government. This bill will take away our last bit of freedom and no alternative health care will be available or permitted. All decisions will be made for me even the manner and time of my death.
Wake up all you lovers of the freedom to choose your own heath care. We must ban together with Mike Adams and others who care and fight, really fight for our Heath Freedom in the USA. NC is trying to pass a bill to make all alternative health care givers a felon. The FDA Police State, paid by Big Pharma won’t stop until they have total control over our minds and our bodies.
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It’s getting harder and harder to find anything that you are FREE to do in this country. Vote for anyone but a Demo. or Rep., their run by the same elite. They pretend to listen to us, giving in just a little while taking more and more.
Hey, we should realise that 3% of population rich and powerful; Bush, Hillary……Monsanto, FDA ……. and some other individuals do what they want. We are 97% and keep ourselves under the table. WE ALL understand what is good and what is bad, but no one asking us, democracy? We are prisoners, no freedom, no choice, and always must do what they want us to do. THEY arenconstantly making law for themselves. The danger is one they very soon you you not allowed even think about alternative medicine because pharma and 3% will decide everything for you about you and even if they need you! Where is Hippocrate, Aurveda? Do you understand your child would have NO CLUE about them. WHAT ARE YOU AWAITING FOR? BETTER LIFE, JUSTICE? YOU NEEDFIGHT FOR IT. HAVE YOU ALL GUYS RISED THE HEAD TO THE SKY AND WATCH HOW SOMETIMES5 AIRCRAFTS SPREAD YOUR SKY BY CHEMICALS? ALUMINUM! sOON NOTHING WILL GROW ON THE SOIL, BUT gmo ALUMINUM RESISTANT WILL BE ON YOUR TABLE FOR THE PRICE OF CAVIAR. we are wasting time and all will end up in rat traps.
I am calling my sister in Las Vegas, she is child protective and social worker.