But is it murder?

A divorced mom was recently convicted of attempted murder for withholding cancer medications from her son who had leukemia.

I know I don't have all the details but have the basics. The boy was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006 with a 95% chance for full recovery if treatments were followed. The boy was in primary custody of the mother. She did not give him his treatments because she thought they were making him sicker. The father sued for custody but it was too late and the boy died in 2009. The father has also since died in a motorcycle accident. This week the mother was convicted in court of attempted murder for withholding the medication and causing his death. She faces up to 47 years in jail.

It is one thing if you are adult and able to make decisions on your own and do your own research to educate yourself to choose. Its another thing if a couple are faced with a terminally ill child and can make a joint decision on what they want to do. There are others, many fundamental Christians, who do not accept modern medicine and that is because of a belief. But its another case if one parent withholds treatment for a curable illness because she doesn't understand it and its side effects.

In my opinion, she is guilty of attempted murder, child endangerment, and stupidity. If she didn't understand the medication and its side effects, she should have voiced her concerns to her son's doctors to learn more. She could have reached out for additional help. This is right up there with a diabetic who won't test their blood and continues to eat two doughnuts a day - a suicide mission but she did it to someone else.

I feel a doctor's treatment suggestions are a request to follow or not but it is my choice with a full understanding of the consequences. The doctor recommends PT for my knee and I am supposed to do the damn exercises ever day (I really do mean to but often forget because I am a spaceshot). I know this means my knee will hurt longer because I am lazy when all I really want is for my knee to stop hurting. But it is my decision.

As a mother she should have been looking out for her son's best interests, not succumbing to her fears. Her ex-husband realized this but it was too late. And the boy is dead with no chance for a long and healthy life.