What the hell is UC?

(and why are you mentioning it in a comment directed at me?)

Looking back on the lead-up, the symptoms were there — but discounted. Excessive thirst? Sure, but it was also 90 degrees out and we ran the A/C as little as possible to keep the electric bills down. Lack of appetite? Who wants to eat when it’s 90 degrees out? Sluggish? We were all sluggish in the heat. Trouble breathng? Her sinuses acting up again.

It was scary as anything, but she survived. I went to the diet-and-nutrition training with her afterwards, since I was the household’s main cook, and learned to count carbs and all that.

But if nobody had been home when she collapsed — she might not have made it.

I vaguely remember hearing about some movie that used that as a premise…

We have stricter requirements on pet ownership than on the most beloved of all ‘Merican icons, the Parent. Parents don’t have to be able to read, keep themselves or the children clean, or even be productive. The lowliest mouthbreather can meet the standard.

So, when the cretin murphles, “I’se PARENT”, I see little to have respect for or to defer to. The proof is in the results. And, if you think I’m cranky, try the burnouts from your local Child Services dept.

First of all, when I say that the reason parents have the latitude to make these sorts of decisions for their children is that parents have a vested interest in the kids, it isn’t saying that every parent on the planet always makes the best, most logical decisions concerning their children. However, despite what holly says, the state, by and large, allows parents to raise their children the way the parents want. Otherwise, you get all the horror stories about overzealous social workers who rip kids away from their loving families because said social worker is a nut. I would rather trust parents to make most decisions for their children than even the best intentioned stranger.

This isn’t to say that there shouldn’t be laws regarding neglect and abuse. I support such laws. My question concerned some of the more hysterical, “We gotta do something!!!!” mentality on display upthread. Again, who gets to determine when a parent has been neglectful? The lines are quite fuzzy and sometimes drawn in ways many people won’t like, but it is a fine line to cross when you are discussing the intersection of religion, freedom, duty, and obligation.

As for the rabbit trail about vaccines, I wasn’t saying that vaccines cause autism but that some people think vaccines cause autism, which is why they avoid getting their children vaccinated. This isn’t saying I agree with their statement, anymore than the people who tried to say I was endorsing or excusing child abuse. The fact is, parents will make a lot of choices that others dislike. Some seem more about personal taste (do you let your 11-year-old watch R rated movies?) and others seem more about safety (do you let your 15-year-old stay out at 2 a.m.?). Regardless, most parents try to do the best for their children, which is why, after all, they are charged with the responsibility for their children in the first place.

Fascinating how Amanda, who has no children, thinks she understands the motivations of people who do, but can’t tell the difference between a foreseeable consequence of behavior and punishment.

Mickle: I do not think that UC quite falls neatly into the abortion angle– there is much that can go wrong in the immediate minutes after a child is born. Are you suggesting that in a UC, if the baby dies in the birth canal it would not be criminal negligence, but if it died shortly after exiting the birth canal it would be?

BTW, I am uncompromising about my support of abortion in any case and I take no position in general on whether UC should be prosecuted.

Kristen: I don’t dispute that there are circumstances in which the parents’ decisions should be superceded in order to save a child’s life. I am mainly disputing at what point this intervention should take place and in what circumstances. But I do dispute that the system should work any other way than it currently does; that is to say, I do think it should be handled case-by-case, where doctors need to have hearings/board review before they can supercede the parents wishes, and in cases where this cannot happen that the law determines whether parents should suffer any consequence for their behavior.

For others who think I am defending these specific parents, I am not and have not. I do not know enough details to make an absolute judgment, but I do tend toward viewing their conduct as negligent based on the last 48 hours of that child’s life.

Mold & Emily: I have no doubt that this child suffered an excruciating death. I do wonder, however, if parents (in general) were unaware of their child’s diabetes, would many of these symptoms be written off as a bad flu? In reading the symptom list, I can see how uneducated parents, unaware of their child’s medical condition, might not think the situation warranted a trip to the ER (especially if they were uninsured). Even the Kaussmaul breathing could be rationalized away as an attempt to keep nausea at bay (I know I breath very slow and deep when I am trying to prevent vomiting). To a trained eye or someone informed, the signs of DKA would have been unmistakeable.