Parental Rights

Media have hounded the Daniel Hauser story over the past week, turning what was, in my opinion not really a newsworthy development, into one of THE media events of the week.

While this seems to be a “best practice” for national TV outlets that I find annoying, this entire story does beg the questions of what defines parents’ rights, what sorts of parental action/inaction warrants state/federal intervention, and at what point, if ever, should lawmakers step in.

This CNN article explores that issue…ending with this quote from one of the story’s sources, who, as a child, had parents who chose not to treat her health issue:

“The situation we have right now is where religious parents get this free pass, where they get to deny their kids some kinds of treatments that other parents don’t have the choice of doing. I don’t think anyone should get a free pass to medically neglect their child.”

I was so tickled that I found this quote, because it speaks right to a question I’ve been pondering….

Media reports, social consensus, and even judge’s rulings are dictating that religious beliefs do notgive parents the right to refuse medical treatments like chemotherapy for their children. Which, in the case of Daniel Hauser and his mother, the Hausers are refusing because they believe in natural remedies, and that chemo and radiation will kill Daniel…so they really believe they’re saving him.

But here’s the big kicker.

Why didn’t media react when Amina and Sarah Said, of Texas, were killed by their Muslim father in a purported ‘honor killing’, back in 2008?

Granted, this may not be as widespread as parents denying health treatments to their children, but what if it is? As Michelle Malkin pointed out in her blog, the MSM didn’t pick up on this story. So what other similar stories are they ignoring?

Don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but there’s a big push for Sharia Law, the body of Islamic religious law, to be internationally applicable…that’s a whole separate 20 postings. But just Google the term and start reading…

I guess the moral of my ponderings is, are we going to become a country where one law/mindset will punish parents who are drawing on their religious beliefs to try and save their children, while at the same time another law/mindset will allow parents (fathers) to murder their children if they feel they’ve violated their religion….?

Just something to think about.