Have you heard?

Have you heard about Abraham Cherrix?

If you haven't then please type his name into any search engine. The news stories will be able to tell you more about him.

Abraham is the 16 year old boy from my area who is fighting for the right to choose his own cancer treatment. He has Hodgkin's Disease, and does not want chemo. Instead he wants to use an herbal treatment from a clinic in Mexico. He believes he can get well with the alternative medicine.

Now I'm no Dr. and I have certainly never had to fight something like cancer, but I have been keeping a close eye on this case. Why?

Because the courts have stepped in and are ordering Abraham to take Chemo. He doesn't want it. His parents want him to be able to make his own choice about HIS body.

Now the courts have taken custody. The parents are being charged with medical neglect and there is a possibility that they will take Abraham away from his parents and force him into treatment. I don't know how you feel about it, but I think at 16 I would want the choice of how to treat my own body. This young man has already had chemo. He knows the risk. I have mixed feelings on this case. I can understand that there are some really crazy parents out there, and in some cases yes the courts need to take away children. But this is a 16 year old. I have two children. I can not imagine not wanting them to get well from cancer. But is Chemo the answer? Do the courts have the rights to tell us what we can and can not do with our life and our body?

Abraham's case has brought into public view some difficult questions: What are parents' - and more expressly, children's - rights in choosing medical treatment? When is alternative medicine helpful or harmful? And who has the right to intervene when the answers to such questions are in dispute?

This is a quote from Abraham

As he explains, "This is my body that I'm supposed to take care of. I should have the right to tell someone what I want to do with this body. I studied. I did research. I came to this conclusion that the chemotherapy was not the route I wanted to take."

Abraham has started a journal. Nothing is on it yet but the news links. I bookmarked it. I want to go back later when this young man writes in it.

Here is the link

http://www.abrahamsjourney.com/index.html

I think they are going to be talking about this one for awhile. Let's all keep him in our thoughts