Should People Be Allowed To Make Medical Decisions About Children

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Where should we draw the line when it comes to parental decisions regarding children? Is it acceptable to refuse medical treatment for a child because of religious reasons? This has been a bioethical dilemma in the health care field for many years. If you were a parent and your child was dying and needed medical treatment, would you have strong enough faith to believe that prayer alone could cure your child? Should anyone be willing to gamble ones life on faith when there are clear alternatives? Most people like to believe that when making medical decisions the one that results in the chance of survival is the one chosen. But as we look at a few cases we discover that others choose what they believe to be their faith over medical treatment, ultimately resulting in death. There is an old tale passed down regarding religion and the medical field. “There’s a man who’s stuck on a boat in the water when a vicious storm occurs. The lifeguard tries to save him, but the man says no, my God will save me! The man on the boat continues to pray and tell God how wonderful he is and how he has faith that he will save him from the storm. The lifeguard throws rafts out toward the man to save him, but the …show more content…

A practitioner from the church visited and “healed” by praying and singing to him. His symptoms persisted for days following. On April 8th he began to have spasms, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness. Later that night Robyn died. After further evaluation doctors diagnosed him as having a correctable bowel obstruction (Common Wealth v. Twitchell). These children’s lives could have easily been saved; death could have been avoided. The parents are getting off easy for what is manslaughter in all reality. They have the option to save their child’s life but refuse to. As a parent it is their duty to protect their children, they are not fulfilling this

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