Judge rules woman must have hysterectomy (on hold during appeal)

[Liberal_in_LA]

Judge Forces Hysterectomy on God-Loving Woman


The following story reads like it was lifted directly from the script of a controversial medical drama like Grey's Anatomy. But those shows are fictional, and, sadly, this heartbreaking story is actually true.

A cancer patient in Montana -- identified only as L.K. -- refused to undergo a hysterectomy as treatment for her cancer on the grounds that she is deeply religious and wants to have children. That's sad enough in it's own right. But no one could have foreseen what happened next: A judge found her "mentally incompetent" based on her "delusional religious beliefs" and ruled she was to have the procedure.

The Montana Supreme Court has halted the surgery to allow for an appeal, but in the interim let's ponder this question: Since when do we force people to be sterilized in this country?

On one side of the case we have L.K.'s physician and psychiatrist testifying that without the surgery she could die in three years and that her “religious delusions” -- namely, that God had cured her -- interfered with her ability to make reasoned decisions about her care.

On the other, we have L.K. herself saying that while she did understand that she had been diagnosed with cancer and did understand the risks of dying if she did not have the procedure, she didn't want it.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/117166/judge_forces_hysterectomy_on_godloving

[Sanity Claws]

1. awful

she is an adult and should be able to make her own decisions based on her beliefs. Whatever happened to freedom of religion?

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. no freedom allowed with respect to women's organs

[virgogal]

3. Her body,her choice.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. yep. People often decide against further cancer treatment. It's interesting that when it's a uterus

a judge wants to mandate it.

[canetoad]

5. Forget that it's a uterus

The sterilization issue clouds the basics.

If an adult has cancer and refuses to have say, their stomach, colon or another organ removed, that is their right. End of story.

[ej510]

6. Is there any doubt now we are living in a police state.

[Angry Dragon]

7. Sounds like the judge is saying people that hold

"delusional religious beliefs" are "mentally incompetent"
Could be a landmark ruling

[originalpckelly]

8. "Since when do we force people to be sterilized in this country?"

:rofl:

Someone knows American history well, don't they?

[Maine_Nurse]

12. Most people don't realize that laws allowing forced sterilization are still on the books.

It seems that it has been quite some time since they were used, but they do exist and are "active" laws.

Although, in this case, it seems more like court-ordered treatment instead of forced sterilization. I deal with a fair number of patients receiving forced treatment, but they are very severely impaired and/or actively suicidal. This certainly doesn't seem to fit the criteria. My own wife stopped her cancer treatments before she died. It just wasn't worth the suffering from the treatment.

[joshcryer]

9. "mentally incompetent" based on her "delusional religious beliefs"

:rofl:

[etherealtruth]

10. Supposedly one has the right to refuse medical treatment

In the case of the truly mentally incompetent I can understand some intersession ...but this ... ?

[ThomCat]

24. I thought so too.

If all adults have the right to refuse medical treatment if they wish,

And if all adults have the right to freedom of religion so they can worship as they please,

Then what the hell is the problem here?

She has a right to refuse this cancer treatment whether it is for religious reasons or even if it isn't. And if it is because of religious reasons, that's nobody's business but hers, because she's doing something with her religious beliefs that is fully within her rights as an adult.

Supposedly, nobody can force her to save her own life. The courts aren't supposed to be able to force her to get medical treatment she doesn't want if, in fact, she has a right to refuse that treatment. If they can force this upon her then she doesn't have any rights. They are taking those rights away from her.

That is all pre-supposing that she is found to be mentally competent. If the health care professionals decide that she isn't competent to represent herself then she looses all of her rights. Gone. She only has rights if someone else tries to represent her in court and demands those rights on her behalf.

But it's a damned scary thing when the doctors who want you to lose your rights in this case are the same people who get to evaluate whether or not you are competent to keep your rights. That's a conflict of interests that you know she has to be worrying about. It's not like no perfectly sane people have ever been locked up and stripped of their rights under false pretenses this way before, or ever will be again. But by the time you fight your way free, the damage is already done, so they have no incentive not to do it.

I don't really understand what she thinks she's getting out of this though.

Why bring a child into this world if you won't be alive to raise that child? Will she be able to guarantee that someone else will take good care of that child instead of her?

A legacy perhaps?

[Duer 157099]

11. And what if she didn't have health insurance?

Would she still be forced to have (and pay for) a procedure?

[Liquorice]

13. From other articles I've read about this case, the woman seems to be

delusional. She may have schizophrenia or another delusional disorder. She should be allowed to do what she wants with her body, but it would be a real shame if she is refusing treatment because she is in an active delusional state.

[Maine_Nurse]

14. If she has suffered from a disorder like that for a significant time, it may be a rational...

decision to let nature take its course. Their lives can be absolute torture to live and many of the meds cause significant physical health problems like diabetes or even heart failure.

[uppityperson]

20. Link to another article, local news, more info on it all...

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_b15bffa2-c8ee-5134-bbe5-89e76d5e7446.html

[RobinA]

15. This is an Odd One

I work with psychiatric patients and, sadly, I have known them to make debilitating and sometimes fatal medical decisions often. Usually from paranoia. It's a tough one.

[alphafemale]

16. Can you ever imagine a judge forcing a man with testicular cancer to have his nuts cut off?

Of course not.

It's probably a bad decision. But it's hers and she will have to live, or more likely, die with it.

But it's her decision.

[no_hypocrisy]

17. Since when do we force people to be sterilized in this country? Buck v. Bell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_v._Bell

Oliver Wendell Holmes and the rest of the Supreme Court found it constitutional to allow a state to force a woman that the state found to be mentally retarded to be sterilized against her will.

And the case hasn't been overturned; its holding can be applied to this situation.


BTW, the Third Reich got its idea for state-sponsored sterilization from us, the U.S.

[uppityperson]

18. The sterilization part clouds the issue of forcing treatment on an adult. Even if were an appendix

it would be wrong except in a few instances. However, not knowing the person involved, I am unable to hold any judgment about her mental competency. There are adults who are incompetent and cases where judges over reach.

[no_hypocrisy]

19. Tragically, it IS constitutional (and it shouldn't be). See my post please.

[uppityperson]

21. However in this case that is incidental to the treatment of the cancer

If she had cancer of her gall bladder, then that is the organ they would remove. Talking about "omg sterilization" takes the focus off the issue here which is forcing treatment upon someone. In my opinion that is.

[no_hypocrisy]

22. You could be correct. However, the court seems interested in also

preventing this woman from reproducing as it has deemed her incompetent via her religious beliefs.

[uppityperson]

23. I bet it influenced the decision.

[Hosnon]

25. Personally, I think she's incredibly stupid for believing in the God nonsense.

But it doesn't matter what I think; it's her body and she is harming no one else.