Abraham Cherrix: Tuesday Update

This post will be updated with Tuesday's news throughout the day.

Abraham Cherrix will appear before the Accomac County Circuit Court this afternoon at 12 o'clock. (Original Image: USA TODAY)

The Court Case
Last Friday's ruling ordered Abraham and his parents to appear at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk by 1 PM (EST) today and to consent to whatever treatment doctors deemed necessary. Namely, chemotherapy and radiation.

Yesterday Abraham's lawyers requested that Judge Jesse Demps stay the order until the case could be appealed to the Accomack County Circuit Court. That petition was denied.

But his lawyers, Barry Taylor and John Stepanovich, also asked the county's Circuit Court to take over the case and grant the stay. According to Stepanovich a hearing is set for noon today at that court and Abraham and his parents will be there.

The courthouse is about 80 miles from the hospital in Norfolk, which means that Abraham would not be able to get to the Children's Hospital at the court-appointed time, even if he wanted to.

But since yesterday, Abraham and family have made it clear that they have no plans to consent. In fact, they're determined not to.

"I'll fight until I do die. I'm not going to let it go," Abraham said Monday by phone from his home in Chincoteague. "I would rather die healthy and strong and in my house than die in a hospital bed, bedridden and unable to even open my eyes."

"I've got nothing to lose by what I'm doing," he added. "I truly do believe that this (alternative treatment) is going to cure me." (Source: WTKR.com)

If the Circuit Court upholds Judge Demp's ruling, Abraham's parents may be held in contempt of court. That means they could face losing custody entirely or even jail time. Mr. Cherrix said yesterday that they're ready for the consequences.

"I'm not going to be an obstacle to my son. If a judge wants to throw me in jail, then he's going to have to do that."

Still, Mr. Cherrix said he is confident that "a judge somewhere will stop this madness." If a stay is not granted, he said, the family will "search our consciences and do what's right."

Art Caplan, chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, says that the judge's order could be difficult to enforce.

"I don't think they're going to want to shackle Abraham to the table and try to give him chemotherapy," he said. "If he's uncooperative, he could wind up not getting treated. It's hard for me to imagine the state police holding him in a straight jacket."

UPDATE #1
The Circuit Court has granted Abraham's request to stay Judge Demp's order. The Associated Press is reporting:

A judge has set aside a court order requiring a 16-year-old cancer patient to report to a hospital for treatment over his objections. (Source: WTKR.com)

UPDATE #2
Circuit Court judge Glen Allen Taylor has also suspended the ruling that Abraham's custody be shared between his parents and the Department of Social Services for Attomac County. (Source: Richmond Times Dispatch)

Read more coverage of the Circuit Court's decision here.

Mainstream News Coverage
Over at Townhall.com, opinion writer Cal Thomas shares his thoughts:

In an age when we continue to debate "a woman's right to choose" when it comes to a girl aborting her baby and we are told that it is the girl's body and no one else should make decisions affecting it, a boy has no such rights. A girl can be given birth control by the school nurse and even abortion information without her parents knowledge or consent, but a boy can be prohibited from making decisions that affect his life and body. At least the courts are consistent. They forbid parental involvement in either case. In some states, though, parents are held responsible for their kids' illegal and anti-social behavior. Why is it that parents supposedly have power to keep their kids from committing crimes, but can be denied power when it comes to their child's health and welfare?

Cal Thomas: A teen's Y chromosome problem

Across the Blogosphere
Check out Spunky Homeschool's morning post for a roundup of bloggers covering the story. Spunky is doing an absolutely terrific job getting the word out and keeping people updated.

UPDATE: Agent Tim has also posted about Abraham's story:

What is scary about this issue is really summed up in this quote.

“With the court’s decision on Abraham Cherrix, conventional medicine has once against proven itself to be grounded in tyranny. That oncologists must use intimidation and the threat of arrest to scare patients away from safer, natural treatments is a powerful indicator of the sad state of desperation to which the cancer industry has sunk in order to acquire paying customers.”

I hope I am not being too cynical, but I don’t believe they will ever find a cure for cancer — they wouldn’t make enough money.

Please pray for Abraham, Katie, and others like them who are losing not only a legal battle, but also a battle for their very lives.

Agent Tim Online: A Fight for More Than Life

Online Video Roundup
WTKR News Channel 3 of Hampton Roads, VA has been giving a lot of coverage to the Abraham Cherrick story and has video of their coverage available online. To view recent coverage, click here.

For full coverage of Abraham's story, click here.