Here's a poll you should set straight

I'll assume you all know the ongoing Daniel Hauser story by now, and just skip to the point. The Washington Times website (oh, stop booing me!) has a little poll concerning the debate on parental rights and authority of children and how far the government can or should interfere for the children's well-being when their parents are idiotic loons.

Question of the day

Should parents be allowed to refuse cancer treatments for their children?

• Yes – 24% (588)
• No – 67% (1601)
• Undecided – 6% (154)
• Other – 1% (40)

Total votes: 2383
(Results taken at roughly 2:27 PM, EST)

Assuming the child is either too young or uninformed to be able to reasonably decide for him-/herself ... Hmm, lemme think ...

NO.

No child should have to pay for their parents' stupidity, ignorance, or brainwashing as Daniel obviously is. The poor kid's been brainwashed into stupidity through bad parenting and cults, and there's a very real chance he could die from it.

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A quick recap of the Daniel Hauser chemotherapy refusenik case, for the uninitiated:

• Daniel Hauser is raised in a highly religious and conservative household. He is entirely homeschooled with a heavy slant towards religion, and tests show that even today at 13 years old, he is entirely illiterate.

• Daniel then gets landed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, arguably the best cancer to get if you're to get cancer thanks to its high survival rates when undergoing appropriate treatments. Adults have 90% rates; children have 95%. This is only with radiation and chemotherapy therapies.

• Daniel (now 13) undergoes a first round of chemotherapy, yet hates how it makes him feel. (Chemotherapy is toxic, after all, which is the point: kill the cancer.) He is also presumably frightened by the chemotherapy-related death of his aunt.

• Daniel has since staunchly refused any more chemotherapy, instead returning to naturopathic woo medicine, such as "herbs and vitamins", that his mother found "on the Internet". He also uses the fake-sounding pseudo-American-Indian religion of Nemenhah as a convenient excuse to bring up a "Freedom of Religion" defense to defy the courts.

• The court finally ruled that Daniel was being "medically neglected" and he was ordered to pursue life-saving treatment, despite previous threats to resist, literally kicking and screaming, any judge rulings of the sort.

• Finally, Daniel and his mother have now fled the country, with reliable sources placing them somewhere in Mexico. An arrest warrant has been issued against them, with orders to immediately separate Daniel from his idiotic mother upon capture.

(via Pharyngula and Respectful Insolence)