Sleepy Eye mom: Teen would defy court order
A mother testified that religious beliefs prevent her son from taking chemo. Doctors said he will likely die without it.
The mother of 13-year-old Daniel Hauser testified Friday that she and her son would refuse to comply with any court order requiring the boy to resume chemotherapy for his cancer.
“Danny clearly made up his mind. He’s not doing it,” Colleen Hauser, of Sleepy Eye, Minn., testified on the opening day of a trial over whether a court should order the boy into medical treatment against the family’s wishes.
Hauser, whose son was diagnosed in January with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said conventional treatments such as chemotherapy conflict with the family’s religious beliefs. She said they prefer natural remedies such as herbs and vitamins.
Asked where she learned about the alternative healing techniques, Hauser said, “on the Internet.”
Daniel sat stoically through the opening part of the trial as his first oncologist, Dr. Bruce Bostrom of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics in Minneapolis, testified that his chances of survival would drop to 5 percent without treatment.
The boy left shortly afterward and never returned to the courtroom. He is scheduled to testify this morning in a closed session before the judge, after his lawyer said he was uncomfortable talking in open court. The case is expected to be finished today, and the judge said he didn’t expect to issue a ruling this weekend.
As a day of tense testimony began, dozens of family friends and supporters lined the courtroom, but the mood was subdued. At one point, a handful of natural-health advocates arrived with signs to show their support for the Hausers. But they were ordered to leave their placards outside the courthouse.
The Hausers declined to speak to reporters after Friday’s court session. But Dan Zwakman, a member of the Nemenhah religious group to which they belong, acted as the family spokesman. He argued that this is a case about religious freedom, noting that the group’s motto is “our religion is our medicine.”
May 12, 2009 @ 00:34:42
Good!! One less idiot to drag the rest of the world down with him. Let him believe in natural remedies and divine intervention. If that moron has a death wish, give it to him. I don’t even feel bad for people like that anymore. That’s just Natural Selection’s way of weeding out the dumb.
May 14, 2009 @ 04:48:14
It’s hardly the fault of the brainwashed cancer victim (13 years old dude).
Anyway, the mother is obviously insane (as are the rest of the followers) and the matter should be treated in such a manner. A delusion is causing her to put her sons life in danger. Thats pretty clear cut. Why can’t the authorities commit her to an institution and take the kid into care of the state?
May 14, 2009 @ 21:47:16
This is the same delusion that all religious people have though.