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
After watching my mother go thru the process and almost being killed by the ‘cure’; I wouldn’t even consider chemotherapy because of the horrendous side affects. This mother was showing love and compassion…she should not be punished. Shame on our legal system.
ps. and thank-you Gabriella….couldn’t have said it better myself.
How sad. Is the father in the picture? This is so heartbreaking.
The father died in an accident a few months after Jeremy died. Tragic.
Oh, that is so sad! My heart goes out to this poor grieving woman.
I have been seeing so many stories like this one lately. It is horrific and extremely scary. Thanks for sharing as I had not heard about this one….
My brother died from chemotherapy used to treat his non-hadgkins lymphoma. It was a painfully disturbing and traumatic death. But before the government (VA Hospital) poisoned him to death they denied his treatment for 6 months after he failed a drug test for marijuana, which was the only drug to eased his pain. During the 6 month “rehabilitation period” They gave him massive doses of morphine, muscle relaxers, stool softeners, and a whole host of other pharmacueticals. The NHL migrated to his stomach, lungs, and liver. In a last ditch effort to save his life they literally poisoned him with chemo and radiation. 🙁
This poor mother and suffering child.
Hope, that story really breaks my heart.
What about all the insurance companies who “refuse” to provide “proper” treatment for those in need? Are they held accountable or considered murderers? This verdict is an embarrassment to the judge and jury. My heart breaks for this poor woman and what this kind of sentence means for all of us.
I live in New England and the local news media has been brutal in representing this woman. (big surprise!) They have truly bent the story to portray her as a cold, selfish criminal who pre-meditated the murder of her child. As if! Idiots.
Exactly, Julie ! Insurance companies are allowed all kinds of “passes” whereas the average mom who compassionately cares for and loves her disabled (injured!) child for years … with no actual real meaningful help from an arrogant power driven med industry and its enabling banker (insurance companies) … is blamed and convicted on murder charges because she refused to poison her child with anymore crap! Chemo, like vaccines does not have an unchallenged safety record we are all led to believe. They are both theories, not based on any solid scientific proof!
This plus other similar stories (like the Michigan mom who had her daughter taken away from her because she “choses” against a drug that was making her more violent, schools forcing parents to only eat cafeteria selections, states passing laws mandating no consent to vaccinations, etc) just sickens me. This judge needs to be embarrassed right out of his job and should never again be able to weild such decisions regarding American or human rights again! I hope this woman is vindicated asap !!
Let this be a warning to us all. If you can, by all means stay away from traditional allopathic care and seek instead alternative care … those who “care” and will not report you for not following the Gov’t protocol for sickness and death!
This makes me down right angry, what are they going to tell me I have to do next? What happened to freedom, being able to make ones own choices? We will be praying for this grieving and now jailed mama.
“Women’s reproductive rights are under fire…”
Please don’t compare abortion (as I’m fairly sure you’re not just referring to contraception) to a parent’s right to choose medical care for their child. They are worlds apart.
No, they aren’t worlds apart. They are both instances of the government interfering in personal medical decisions, just because you don’t believe (seemingly) in it doesn’t mean others shouldn’t be able to make the choice for themselves.
I don’t believe that taking another human being’s life is a choice anyone should get to make.
I agree with you, Daryl. And the hypocrisy here is astounding. They call ‘police state’ in this instance, yet they’ll have no problem forcing their views on other people. It IS a personal MEDICAL decision whether to terminate a pregnancy or not (after all, what about in the case of a woman’s health/life being threatened, or in the case of rape or incest?). And actually, if there was more freedom regarding medical decisions in this country (such as the morning after pill being available) there wouldn’t be as many abortions.
But back to the topic at hand, this is just insane. This has NOTHING to do with the well being of the boy and more to do with control by conventional medicine and big pharma.
I should correct this – I understand the boy died, which is sad, but to punish the mother over it? What about people who choose to forgo treatment because of the suffering involved? What do they think hospice is for? To die with dignity. Do the doctors really think that he would have been cured after 2 years of chemo after it destroyed his health? I don’t get that at ALL.
Apparently the doctors DO “really think he would have been cured” based on the statistic of an 85 – 90% cure rate for the process that Sarah is sneering at. I’m not sure why the boogeyman of “Big Pharma” got dragged into this either. It’s not as if the mother attempted or anyone believed there was an holistic alternative – so I bet there are PLENTY of people who are grateful for these drugs that cause temporary pain but save lives. IMO the mother made the wrong decision. But it’s very sad she will be taken away from her other child.
There is plenty of freedom (access) in regards to the morning-after pill. When I was 18 (24 now), I went down to my local Planned Parenthood clinic, then lied and told them I was 17, and got completely free birth control, morning-after pills, gynecological examinations, condoms, STD tests, etc, all paid by the taxpayer. I got it for free because I told them I was under 18. After I turned 18 in their records (when I was really 19), they gave me a good discount on the stuff. I used birth control and morning-after pills for 2 years, until I realized I was hurting my body. I developed Hashimoto’s disease, no doubt partly because of the damaging effects of these pills.
All of this was done without Planned Parenthood knowing anything about my medical history. They didn’t ask me to provide any kind of information to them, not a driver’s license, birth certificate, medical records, nothing. So that made it very easy to lie and tell them I was younger. Most girls I know do this. I got the idea from a friend, in fact. The parents never know.
As far as your argument about the rape and incest, you may or may not know this, but this accounts for an extremely small number of abortions. What you see rather is the culture of indulgence and promiscuity emerging. Women and girls act irresponsibly, then resort to damaging their own bodies and murdering their children. It’s a nasty thing to consider, but it’s the stone-cold truth.
Sure, more women might become more promiscuous with abortions being allowed. However, only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does is provide abortions, so that organization is not really relevant here. The simple fact is, is that the government has no right to tell a woman what she can & cannot do. It’s hypocritical to say the government is wrong in telling the poor woman in Sarah’s post what they think she should have done with the chemo treatments, and then say the government has to make abortion illegal.
Not to derail the post; it is horrible to think what Mrs. LaBrie must be going through. She did the right thing–the right thing being what she thought was best for her own child. I’m sure she is a rational person, and if she believed that the chemo was causing more pain for her son than was due, the rational thing was to stop the chemo.
You are so right, Daryl. When a country takes away the basic right to life, any other basic rights will be chucked out the window. The above is a prime example.
Reproductive rights????? It is not your “right” to murder babies. If you create a baby, you don’t have the right to murder it for ANY reason.
I agree, it is the same in that it is one more way the government oversteps its bounds because people lack their own self government. God be with that poor mother in jail, be her comfort.
While I’m sure this is not the debate Sarah intended (and I hate to turn attention away from the original post), I must say I don’t see the connection between a woman’s “right” to take the life of her not-yet-born child, and the above mentioned case.
Of course, I believe all life is sacred, and I hold a consistent ethic of life. It appears this is where I differ with those whose greater concern is their “reproductive rights”.
Women should always have the right to choose to get rid of a pregnancy. Besides its better than kids being born into horrific poverty or fostercare.
Many single parents will never be able to afford real food for their kids.
There are a lot of parents waiting to adopt, so finding a good home for a child isn’t an argument for abortion. There are always good homes and loving parents available for the babies of women who, for whatever reason, can’t or don’t want to keep their child. There are many more waiting parents than available babies.
The research is truly overwhelming. The foundation of pro-abortion arguments is crumbling all around, especially in these modern times, when we know so much more than we ever have about the child and the abortion process. This is a well-written, well-researched, simply amazing blog: http://realchoice.blogspot.com/
Problem is too many women find themselves unable to give up kid.
That is an excellent reason. Truly. Before I grow emotionally attached, it’d be best to kill my baby instead of experiencing the pain of not being able to raise it myself.
That’s one of the best examples of the culture of “me”. It’s completely self-absorbed, and makes others suffer because of it. Abortion is one of the best examples, because the self-absorbtion goes so far as to take another’s life.
Marisa, I know this sounds crude, but really I would rather the “person” be killed instead of being forced to live in poverty and misery. This world is not a good place anymore.
Is it better to be aborted or born?
A life of poverty and “misery” is better than no life at all? What an ignorant comment! Imagine all the great people who should have been aborted – Louis Armstrong, Oprah, Mother Theresa, Beethoven (15th of an alcoholic abusive father – he’d be a prime candidate for abortion these days!), Martin Luther King Jr. – the list could go on and on. You act as if misery and poverty go hand in hand – as if poor people should not be allowed to breed.
“Marisa, I know this sounds crude, but really I would rather the “person” be killed instead of being forced to live in poverty and misery. This world is not a good place anymore. Is it better to be aborted or born?”
This is what life is without a reason to live or faith in God. It is the best example I believe I have ever seen. This world is indeed not a good place–never was–apart from God. So because, you live in a Godless world, then the next step is “mercy killing” right? Being merciful to those unborn children, by killing them, right? If anybody is even curious about what life is without God, then take at look at Kelli’s message. I pray that God will touch your soul and you will seek Him out that so you can see beyond “how bad this world is.” Then you will understand the abortion is not an act of kindness, but rather one of throwing a gift back in to the face of God.
Wow, that is just so wrong. So, so, so wrong. 🙁
I feel so much for that poor mother. And you’re right- who do these judges think they are playing God?
I hope her sentence is somehow repealed.
Oh I know. This case makes me sick to my stomach. This week has been too much in the news for me. Parents are forbidden from packing their children lunch for school, parents are being jailed for showing compassion for their children’s suffering, and women’s reproductive rights are under fire like never before.
Things like this make the idea of leaving the country more an more appealing every day.
I feel so bad for this poor woman. You’re right–isn’t her grief enough??
I’m sorry everyone derailed your post attempting to decide what I “meant” by what I posted, Sarah.
To everyone with their panties in a twist about what they THOUGHT I said: Try again. I simply stated that all of the news this week was too much for me regarding women/mothers/rights/persecution. I never made any statement about where I stood on anything, other than the fact that I felt bad for the mother in this story; Y’ALL took my statement and ran all to hell with it.
To everyone who attacked me: Thank you for putting words in my mouth. Thank you for telling me what I should believe and what I should do with my body and life, no matter what my circumstances (which are none of your business when I go to make a decision, btw).
I will not even attempt to provide any knowledge-through-links about anything anyone who just attacked me has mentioned–adoption, abortion, parenting, otherwise–because I have learned the hard way that anyone who can take such an innocent comment so defensively obviously isn’t listening, only reacting.
Peace.
wow, that is pretty unbelievable. do you think she would have been prosecuted if she hadn’t started the chemo at all? Or that it has to do with stopping before treatments were supposed to be done?
No. Had she not started chemo at all, CPS would have taken her child from her and forced it on him anyway.
She stopped before the doctors said he should have gone off of the meds.