By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
State and local governments have been tasked with protecting children, sometimes even from their own parents. Child protective services exist to enforce children’s right to life and to be free from abuse; but when the parent’s sincerely held medical beliefs contradict what the State’s medical practitioners believe is the correct route to take the issue of what is in the best interests of the child can often become murky. Where do we draw the line between the State’s duty to protect and parents right to parent? A new book edited by Brian Shilhavy, Medical Kidnapping: A Threat to Every Family in America claims that in many cases the State has exceeded its authority and has gone off mission.
When the State seizes the child over a disagreement about a medical issue that can be very traumatic for both the parents and the child. The book, which looks at several of these cases, is sympathetic to the views of the parent and calls these incidents, “medical kidnappings”.
Shilhavy writes, “Medical kidnapping is defined as the State taking away children from their parents and putting them into State custody and the foster care system, simply because the parents did not agree with a doctor regarding their prescribed medical treatment for the family. In some cases it is as simple as telling a doctor you are going to seek a second opinion on a suggested medical procedure, and then ending up being charged with “medical abuse” and losing your children.”
The book recounts the experiences of over a dozen families who experienced this in real life and their stories are often tragic.
Shilhavy writes, “If you live in the United States of America today, and you have children in your home under the age of 18, every day you are in danger of losing your children to the State through medical kidnapping. Something as simple as bringing your child to the local emergency room to care for an injury or sickness puts you at risk for being accused of medically abusing or neglecting your child, and having a doctor direct a social worker to remove the child or children from your custody by force.”
Health Impact News reporter Terry LaPoint of Warrior, contributed to the book. LaPoint said, “THIS is a much more important issue than transgenders being able to use a different bathroom.” Referring to a case where the State seized a new mother’s child due to a false positive for methamphetamines LaPoint wrote, “It is a REALLY bad idea to take babies away based on drug tests. THEY. CAN. BE. WRONG.”
The new book, Medical Kidnapping: A Threat to Every Family in America, has just been released in paper-back and is published by Sophia Media, the book documents the growing problem of families losing their children to the medical system through Child Protection Services.
Tammi Stefano, Executive Director of National Safe Child and host of the National Safe Child Show said: “This book forces the reader to question the safety of children in America. Health Impact News exposes the power Child Protective Services Agencies have to remove children from loving and safe parents. If a child gets sick, if a parent questions the diagnosis of a medical professional, if a parent requests a second opinion, that family runs the risk of losing their child. This is a serious violation of the civil rights and liberties to raise your child, yet it is happening everyday, in every state across America. The mainstream belief that Child Protective Services “CPS” only protects children in abusive situations or homes is clearly false.” “The compilation of factual stories in this book clearly exposes the danger families face. The battle parents must endure to save their children will shock you. The family unit, once the foundation of this country, has become endangered. ALL PARENTS SHOULD VIEW THIS BOOK AS A WARNING! Thank you Health Impact News and Medical Kidnap for your passionate work and insightful book!”
Ann-Marie Murrell, Co-author What Women Really Want and Editor/Publisher PolitiChicks.com: “Imagine your family doctor telling you your child needs emergency surgery but you say you want a second opinion. Then imagine government workers coming to your home and forcibly taking your child away from you. Sound like an impossibility in America? Think again, because as Medical Kidnapping: A Threat to Every Family In America chronicles, this happens far too often. Thank you Health Impact News for bringing to light an issue that has mostly been in the dark.”
Click here to learn more about the book.
