Akron Children's Hospital

Amish Girl Ordered to Resume Chemotherapy Despite Pleas of Parents

Share:

An Ohio hospital can force a 10-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy over the protests of her parents who decided to stop treatment, an appeals court ruled.

Akron Children’s Hospital asked the judge to appoint a guardian for the girl after doctors became worried when her parents stopped treatment in June after only one of five prescribed rounds of chemotherapy.

Her family was told that the girl has an 85 percent survival rate with treatment but would die within the year if she does not receive it.

Maria Schimer, a lawyer and a former nurse, is expected to be appointed the medical guardian for the girl, according to the ruling released on Friday.

The girl has only been identified by her initials, S.H.

“Parental rights, even if based upon firm belief and honest convictions can be limited in order to protect the ‘best interests’ of the child,” the court wrote in its ruling.

The girl and her parents decided to end her chemotherapy in exchange for “natural medicines” after the child’s first round of chemotherapy made her very ill.

“They do not wish to subject their daughter to this and believe the will of God will triumph,” said John Oberholtzer, the family’s lawyer in August.

The court ruling appointing a guardian reverses a lower court decision. Medina County Judge John Lohn had twice denied the limited medical guardianship request by Schimer.

“A parent’s right to make medical decisions for a child is an important incident of parenthood, subject to broad protection the Constitution,” Lohn wrote in his Sept. 3 ruling.


Editing by Brendan O’Brien and Lisa Shumaker

© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

Share:

Leave a Reply


More Spiritual Content
Is Kamala Harris the Enemy?
7 Shocking Tactics Biden-Harris Use to Deceive You
Past, Present and Future: The Greatest Spiritual War for the Future
Jack Hibbs: Am I Telling Christians It’s a Sin Not to Vote? That’s Exactly What I’m Telling You
RFK Jr. Says ‘God Sent Me Donald Trump’ in Answer to Prayer
‘Millions of Souls Forever Changed’: Sean Feucht’s ‘Kingdom to Capitol’ Tour Descends on National Mall
Morning Rundown: Tucker Carlson’s Testimony: ‘I Was Mauled by a Demon’
Will the Nephilim Return Before Jesus Comes Back?
Tucker Carlson’s Testimony: ‘I Was Mauled by a Demon’
A Night of Unity at Christ Church: Arabs and Jews Worship Jesus Together in Jerusalem
previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Most Popular Posts

Latest Videos
76.8K Subscribers
1K Videos
7.6M Views
Share