Judge ends court-ordered guardianship of Amish girl in chemotherapy fight

A judge formally ended the court-ordered guardianship of an Amish girl who resisted a hospital's attempts to force her to resume chemotherapy, bringing a close to the fight that raised questions about the rights of parents in making medical decisions for their children.

The judge's decision, announced Friday, came more than a year after Sarah Hershberger's guardian gave up her efforts to force the girl into chemotherapy for leukemia. Sarah and her parents went into hiding in the fall of 2013.

Sarah, who is now 12, no longer shows signs of being sick, said Kevin Dunn, a probate judge in Medina County. A visit to her home in August found that Sarah was "active and working daily on the family farm, she appeared healthy and appropriately developed," he wrote.

But Dunn cautioned her parents that she is not fully recovered and warned that they still have a duty to provide her care under Ohio law. "Her parents are not free to act entirely as they may choose," the judge said.

Maurice Thompson, the Hershbergers' attorney, said in a statement that "Sarah's good health bolsters the case against forced health care that we supposedly cannot live without."

The court fight began in the summer of 2013, when Sarah's parents decided to halt treatments because they feared chemotherapy was killing her.

Doctors at Akron Children's Hospital said Sarah's condition was treatable, but they argued she would die within a year if she stopped chemotherapy. The hospital went to court after the family decided to treat Sarah with natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins.

Maria Schimer, an attorney who's also a registered nurse, was given the power to make medical decisions for Sarah after an appeals court ruled the beliefs and convictions of the girl's parents couldn't outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child .

RELATED | Judge blocks Akron Children's Hospital's bid to force Ohio Amish girl to have chemo
 
But Schimer decided to drop the effort because it became impossible to monitor Sarah's health or make any medical decisions for her after she left home and went into hiding.

The family fled their farm in northeast Ohio's Medina County and sought treatment in Mexico before returning home after a few months.

Like most Amish, the Hershbergers shun many facets of modern life and are deeply religious. They have said they stopped chemotherapy not for religious reasons, but because it was making Sarah too sick.
 
Hospital officials said they were morally and legally obligated to make sure the girl received proper care.

State laws give parents a great deal of freedom when it comes to choosing medical treatment for their children, but not always when the decision could be a matter of life or death.

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Judge ends court-ordered guardianship of Amish girl in chemotherapy fight

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Guardian: Court shouldn't change Ohio Amish ruling

Ohio Amish argue against guardian in chemo case

Ohio Appeals Court Again Sides With Hospital Seeking to Send Amish Girl Back to Chemotherapy

OH Judge Delays Decision on Guardian's Request to End Effort to Forced Chemo for Amish Girl

Amish family fighting forced chemo: Allowing guardian for daughter could affect other parents

Connecticut Supreme Court upholds ruling that teen must undergo chemo

The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a prior ruling Thursday that a 17-year-old cancer patient cannot refuse chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The state argued that the teen lacked competency extended to maturity and that they did not believe she understood the severity of her prognosis. Her mother and her mother's lawyer said they expect to go back to trial court to more fully explore the mature minor argument.

The teen, who is identified in court documents as “Cassandra C.,” but was identified by police as Cassandra Callender in a November missing persons report, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in September. At the time, doctors at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) recommended she receive chemotherapy.

Cassandra ran away after two treatments in November and, with the support of her mother, refused any more when she returned. After the hospital reported Cassandra’s mother, Jackie Fortin, the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) took temporary custody of the teen, and her mother was ordered to cooperate with medical care administered under the agency’s supervision.

The teen believes the chemotherapy will do more damage to her body than the cancer will, according to the Hartford Courant. Doctors have said the teen has an 80 to 85 percent chance of living -- with six months of chemotherapy treatment, according to Fox News’ legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr.

After the arguments Thursday, Fortin said she would not allow her daughter to die. The single mother said she and her daughter want to seek alternative treatments that don't include putting the "poison" of chemotherapy into her daughter's body.

"This is her decision and her rights, which is what we are here fighting about," Fortin said. "We should have choices about what to do with our bodies."

Fortin and her lawyer said they are considering the next step after losing the case.

The teen’s doctors testified at a trial court hearing after which the DCF was authorized to make medical decisions on her behalf. The teen and her mother appealed the ruling, claiming it violates their constitutional right and that the state should recognize the “mature minor doctrine.”

The doctrine permits a minor who exhibits the maturity of an adult to make decisions reserved for those who attained the age of majority, meaning 18. Cassandra turns 18 in September. Johnson, who himself battled Hodgkin's disease at age 18, disagrees that it should apply to Cassandra.

“The family is wrong on the law, and wrong on the ethics, and wrong on the humanity,” he told Fox & Friends’ Peter Doocy.

“Wrong on the law, first of all, the state of Connecticut has an obligation to preserve life of an infant. The state of Connecticut has an obligation to prevent suicide. If she does not get this treatment, this is a form of suicide, and frankly the American Civil Liberties Union is complicit in her death if she dies,” Johnson said.

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects the body’s lymphatic system, specifically the white blood cells that help the body fight infection and disease. A form of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of the two is typically used to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

Prior to the ruling, Johnson said the state’s Supreme Court will have to decide whether to send the case back down to a lower court for another hearing to determine the competency of the mother and of the child in terms of making the decision to halt treatment.

“Do 16- and 17-year-old children have the judgment, the perspective, the discretion, the experience to be making these life and death decisions? I say they do not,” Johnson said.

Fortin told the Hartford Courant that even prior to her diagnosis, Cassandra would have opted not to undergo chemotherapy.

“This is her decision, and she’s very intelligent enough to make this decision on her own,” Fortin said. “She does not want poisons in her body, and she does not want to be forced through the state or the government to force her to do such a thing. And right now, at this moment, she is being forced chemo upon her against her wish.”

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Connecticut Supreme Court upholds ruling that teen must undergo chemo

Attempt to Force Chemotherapy Upon Amish Girl to End - Finally!

A court-appointed guardian can drop her attempt to force an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy, a judge ruled.

The decision is a big step in bringing an end to a months-long fight between Sarah Hershberger's family and a hospital. The struggle began when her parents decided to halt the treatments because they feared chemotherapy was killing her.

The ruling issued Thursday by Medina County Probate Judge Kevin Dunn also helps clear the way for Sarah and her parents to return to their farm in northeast Ohio. The family fled and went into hiding four months ago to avoid having the treatment forced on the girl.

Maria Schimer, an attorney who's also a registered nurse, was given the power to make medical decisions for Sarah after an appeals court ruling in October said the beliefs and convictions of the girl's parents can't outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child.

But Schimer said she decided to drop the effort and resign as guardian because it became impossible to monitor Sarah's health or make any medical decisions for her after she left home.

Full Article and Source:
Judge Allows Guardian to End Attempt at Forcing Amish Girl to Resume Chemotherapy

Amish family fighting forced chemo: Allowing guardian for daughter could affect other parents

TOLEDO, Ohio — A judge's decision appointing a guardian to make medical decisions for an Amish girl after her parents stopped her chemotherapy violated their constitutional rights and could affect the rights of other parents to make their own medical choices, the family's attorney said in a court filing.

The lawyer for the family of the girl, Sarah Hershberger, wants a state appeals court to overturn the order assigning the guardian.

Sarah and her parents have been in hiding to avoid resuming chemotherapy since the guardian was appointed in October. They won't return to their farm in northeastern Ohio until the guardian is removed, their attorney has said.

The guardian, Maria Schimer, an attorney who's also a registered nurse, also no longer wants to force 11-year-old Sarah to undergo chemotherapy for her leukemia because she can't contact the girl or her parents.

But she also said that an Ohio appeals court should not grant the Hershberger family's request to reverse the ruling that made her the girl's guardian because the family didn't raise the issue of their constitutional rights being violated in the trial court.

The lawyer for Sarah's family disagreed, responding in a filing on Friday with the Ninth District Court of Appeals in Akron that "fundamental and constitutional rights that implicate matters of great public importance and constitutional significance cannot be forfeited."

Allowing the guardian to overrule the parents "affects the parental rights and health care freedom of all Ohio parents," wrote Maurice Thompson, who leads the libertarian 1851 Center for Constitutional Law in Ohio.

"Any parent could have significant decisions second-guessed, any parent could lose the right to choose the doctor, hospital and course of medical treatment of their choice," the family's attorney said.

Full Article & Source:
Amish family fighting forced chemo: Allowing guardian for daughter could affect other parents

See Also:

Guardian: Court shouldn't change Ohio Amish ruling

Ohio Amish argue against guardian in chemo case

Ohio Appeals Court Again Sides With Hospital Seeking to Send Amish Girl Back to Chemotherapy

OH Judge Delays Decision on Guardian's Request to End Effort to Forced Chemo for Amish Girl

Guardian: Court shouldn't change Ohio Amish ruling

TOLEDO, Ohio A lawyer assigned to make medical decisions for an 11-year-old Amish girl who later went into hiding to avoid resuming chemotherapy told a court that it shouldn't overturn a decision appointing her as guardian even though she wants off the case.

The guardian wants to stop trying to force Sarah Hershberger to undergo chemotherapy for her leukemia because the girl and her parents fled their farm in northeastern Ohio and went into hiding three months ago.

But she also said in a filing this week that an Ohio appeals court should not grant the Hershberger family's request to reverse the ruling that made her the girl's guardian.

The family decided this past summer to halt the cancer treatments because they feared the chemotherapy could end up killing the girl. Doctors at Akron Children's Hospital believe Sarah's leukemia is treatable, but they said in August that she will die within a year without chemotherapy.

The guardian, Maria Schimer, an attorney who's also a registered nurse, was given the power to make medical decisions for Sarah after an appeals court ruling in October said the beliefs and convictions of the girl's parents can't outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child.

Schimer and her attorney said in court documents opposing the request to reverse the decision that the Hershbergers are flouting the court's original order by hiding their daughter.

She also said the Hershbergers' attempts to argue that their constitutional rights were violated should not be allowed because they didn't raise that issue in the trial court. "The parents have forfeited the arguments they now wish to make," Schimer and her attorney said.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/01/09/4598847/guardian-backs-ruling-in-amish.html#.Us9K5rRkF30#storylink=cpy

Full Article and Source:
Guardian: Court shouldn't change Ohio Amish ruling

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Ohio Amish argue against guardian in chemo case

Ohio Appeals Court Again Sides With Hospital Seeking to Send Amish Girl Back to Chemotherapy

OH Judge Delays Decision on Guardian's Request to End Effort to Forced Chemo for Amish Girl

Ohio Amish argue against guardian in chemo case

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A court was wrong to appoint a guardian to make medical decisions for an Amish girl whose parents stopped her chemotherapy against doctors’ wishes, and the guardian should be allowed to resign, the family’s attorney said in court filings this week.

The lawyer for Sarah Hershberger’s family argued for a reversal of the appointment in a filing in their state court appeal.

Ohio’s guardianship statutes appear to let courts substitute their judgment for that of suitable parents while ignoring the parents’ ”moral and constitutional interests,” Maurice Thompson wrote in his filing with the Ninth District Court of Appeals in Akron. The court should take a narrower view that limits such second-guessing and is consistent with constitutional safeguards of their rights, he wrote.

To do that, the court must hold “that the decisions of suitable parents may not be attacked by anyone anytime in an Ohio Probate Court, and that these careful and gut-wrenching life and death decisions cannot be second-guessed and overruled where the parents are suitable, and simply seek to try a less invasive treatment first,” wrote Thompson, who leads the libertarian 1851 Center for Constitutional Law in Ohio.

Clair Dickinson, an attorney for guardian Maria Schimer, said Thursday that he will submit a response to Thompson’s filing later, but he declined to reveal what it might say.

Hershberger and her parents fled their Medina County home more than two months ago so she wouldn’t be forced to resume chemotherapy for her leukemia. Instead, they decided to use natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins.

The Hershbergers shun many facets of modern life and are deeply religious. They have said they stopped chemotherapy not for religious reasons but because it was making Sarah too sick and they feared it could end up killing her.

Full Article and Source:
Ohio Amish argue against guardian in chemo case
Unclear if Amish Girl Resumed Chemo Amid Fight With Hospital, Whereabouts Unknown

Ohio Appeals Court Again Sides With Hospital Seeking to Send Amish Girl Back to Chemotherapy

OH Judge Delays Decision on Guardian's Request to End Effort to Forced Chemo for Amish Girl

OH Judge Delays Decision on Guardian's Request to End Effort to Forced Chemo for Amish Girl

A judge in Ohio isn't ready to rule on whether a court-appointed guardian can drop her attempt to force an 11-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy.

The delay comes because the judge said in a court filing that he might not have authority to grant the request because of an ongoing appeal in state court.

The guardian told the Medina County judge earlier this month that she was dropping her efforts because she doesn't know where the girl is and said it's impossible to make medical decisions for her.

The move came two months after the girl and her parents fled their home in northeast Ohio to avoid the treatments. The family decided to halt the treatments because they feared the chemotherapy could end up killing the girl.

Source:
Judge delays decision on guardian's request to end effort to force chemo for Ohio Amish girl

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Unclear if Amish Girl Resumed Chemo Amid Fight With Hospital, Whereabouts Unknown

Attorney Hopes Ohio Amish Family Can Return Home Soon

An Ohio Amish couple who fled their home with their 11-year-old daughter so she wouldn't be forced to get chemotherapy could be home for the holidays but not without a favorable decision from a judge, their lawyer says.

Attorney Maurice Thompson said he hopes the judge will issue a ruling soon on medical guardianship of Sarah Hershberger and she and her family can return home to rural northeast Ohio in time for Christmas.

"They won't be coming home until the guardianship is no longer in effect," Thompson said Tuesday.
The family left home two months ago just days before an Ohio appeals court allowed a guardian to take over medical decisions for the girl. Since then, the guardian has asked the court to allow her to drop her attempt to force Sarah to resume chemotherapy for her leukemia.

On Monday, Medina County Probate Judge Kevin Dunn said he was delaying a decision on the court-appointed guardian's request because he first wants to make sure he has authority to grant it in light of an ongoing appeal in state court.

Full Article and Source:
Attorney Hopes Ohio Amish Family Can Return Home Soon

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/17/3824549/atty-hopes-ohio-amish-family-can.html#storylink=cpy

Relative: Ohio Amish Girl in Chemo Case Doing Well

An Amish girl with leukemia spent time at a natural cancer treatment center in Central America after she left home with her parents in Ohio to avoid being forced to resume chemotherapy treatments, the girl's grandfather said.

Sarah Hershberger, who recently turned 11, her parents and the couple's baby daughter now are in hiding in the United States, Isaac Keim said.

The family left the small Amish community where they live in rural northeast Ohio just days before a state appeals court appointed a guardian in October to take over medical decisions for Sarah, said Keim, who told the Akron Beacon Journal that he accompanied them to the unnamed clinic.

The Hershbergers have been fighting Doctors at Akron's Children's Hospital in court for months after the parents decided to halt the treatments because they were making Sarah sick.

Doctors say her leukemia is treatable, but say she will die within a year without chemotherapy. The hospital sought to force treatment after the family opted to try natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins.

The family has appealed the court decision that gave an attorney who's also a registered nurse limited guardianship over Sarah. They don't plan on returning until the ruling is reversed.

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Relative:  Ohio Amish Girl in Chemo Case Doing Well

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Unclear if Amish Girl Resumed Chemo Amid Fight With Hospital, Whereabouts Unknown

Ohio hospital wants to force Amish girl’s cancer treatment after parents stop chemotherapy

An Ohio hospital is fighting to force a 10-year-old Amish girl with leukemia to resume chemotherapy after her parents decided to stop the treatments.

Akron Children’s Hospital is appealing a judge’s decision that blocked an attorney who’s also a registered nurse from taking over limited guardianship and making medical decisions for the girl.

The hospital believes the girl will die without chemotherapy and is morally and legally obligated to make sure she receives proper care, said Robert McGregor, the hospital’s chief medical officer.

“We really have to advocate for what we believe is in the best interest of the child,” he said Friday.
The parents initially allowed chemotherapy treatment in May but stopped treatment in June. The parents said the effects on their daughter were horrible and that they were now relying on natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins, The Medina Gazette reported.

The girl told a probate and juvenile judge that she didn’t want chemotherapy because it made feel ill, can damage her organs and make her infertile, the newspaper said.

Medina County Probate and Juvenile Judge John Lohn said he could only transfer guardianship if the parents were found unfit.

Full Article and Source:
Ohio hospital wants to force Amish girl’s cancer treatment after parents stop chemotherapy