Mother Gets 8-10 Years for Withholding Chemo Meds

The expansion of Medical Fascism in the United States continues unabated.

Just a few days ago, Kristen LaBrie, the loving, caring mother of a severely autistic boy suffering from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, received the shockingly brutal sentence of 8-10 years for withholding chemo meds from her son because she could not bear the pain and suffering the side effects caused him.

Is this where our society has come? A grieving Mother who made the call to withhold chemo meds out of compassion is convicted of attempted murder?

Prosecutors argued that the cancer that Jeremy suffered from had a “cure” rate of 85-90% under the barbaric, two year treatment plan proposed by his oncologist.

Ms. LaBrie followed doctor’s orders for the majority of the treatment, but failed to follow through in the final months as the side effects made Jeremy so sick she was afraid the meds would kill him in his very fragile state of health.

LaBrie admitted being remorseful for her actions because she missed her son and thinks about him every day.  Should she be punished when there is no guarantee that Jeremy would even be alive today if she had administered the chemo meds?  Surely her grief is punishment enough?

All this verdict does is ominously send a message to other parents that refusing conventional medical treatment is a FELONY same as if you held a gun to someone’s head.

How insane is that logic?

Ms. LaBrie’s older son Matthew wrote a letter pleading for leniency for his Mother.  He described her as “unbelievably kind, caring and devoted” to her autistic son Jeremy.  In addition, dozens of letters of support from doctors and nurses with autistic children were submitted to the judge asking for similar leniency.

In the end, the judge refused any such leniency and instead described Ms. LaBrie’s choices as “acts that really do chill one’s soul”.

I’ll tell you what chills my soul – judges who are unable to acknowledge that a parent has the right to choose treatment for his or her sick child as well as the freedom to change direction when a chosen treatment is obviously causing undue pain and distress – whatever the outcome.

Judges have no business playing God and asking “what ifs” in situations such as this no matter what probabilities for “successful” treatment Big Pharma robot oncologists spout on the witness stand.

There is no doubt that Ms. LaBrie has unwittingly become a symbol of the dire need for some sort of Medical Freedom Act in this country.  Shackling parents and hauling them away is not the answer.

Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com

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