We Have the Right to Choose - Continue with LOVING CARE FOR CHILDREN

In 1979 the U.S. Supreme Court stated clearly:  "The law's concept of the family rests on a presumption that parents possess what a child lacks in maturity, experience, and capacity for judgment required for making life's difficult decisions. . . . Simply because the decision of a parent [on a medical matter] involves risks not automatically transfer the power to make that decision from parents to some agency or officer of the state." -Parham v. J.R.

That same  year the New York Court of Appeals ruled:  "The most significant factor in determining whether a child is being deprived  of adequate medical care . . . is whether the parents have provided an acceptable course of medical treatment for their child in light of all the surround circumstances.  This injury cannot  be posed in terms of whether the parent has made a 'right or wrong' decision. for the present state of the practice of medicine, despite its vast advances, very seldom permits such definitive conclusions. Nor can a court assume the role of a surrogate parent." -In re Hofbauer.

Recall the example of parents choosing between surgery and antibiotics. Each therapy would have its  own risks. Loving parents are responsible  to weigh risks, benefits, and other factors and then to make a choice.  In this connection, Dr. Jon Samuels (Anesthesiology News, October  1989) suggested  a review of  Guides to the Judge in Medical Orders Affecting Children, which took this position. 

Next time: We Have the Right to Choose - Conclusion of  LOVING CARE FOR CHILDREN

From the jw.org publications