Right to Privacy

An interesting story in the news today about a 16-year-old kid who has Hodgkin's Disease - a treatable form of cancer. After undergoing an unsuccessful course of chemotherapy he has found a herbal/dietary 'cure' in a Mexican clinic and has abandonded the 'conventional' treatment.

Read about it here.

The boy's parents are being taken to court for negligence for not forcing him to continue with chemotherapy. As a legal precedent this is not unusual; Jehovah's Witnesses who deny transfusions for their children are treated similarly. This case is somewhat unique because the boy is not a young child and has clearly made an informed decision after trying the chemotherapy.

The outrage among many at this 'intrusion' of the courts into the lives of an individual and his medical treatments is also neither new nor unexpected. It does, however, present an interesting parallel with the reproductive-rights debate. Conservatives are calling this 'liberal wrong-doing', and blaming the left for trampling on this family's individual rights.

Ironic don't you think? Conservatives defending a person's right to privacy concerning their personal health issues from unwelcome legal interference?