In
In re Guardianship of S.H., (OH App., Aug. 27. 2013), an Ohio appellate court ruled that a probate court should have considered whether a guardian for the purposes of making medical decisions should have been appointed for a 10-year old Amish girl, even though the girl's parents have not been found to be unsuitable. An
AP report summarizes the background:
An appeals court has sided with a hospital that wants to force a 10-year-old Amish girl to resume chemotherapy after her parents decided to stop the treatments.... The hospital believes Sarah's leukemia is very treatable but says she will die without chemotherapy.....
Andy Hershberger, the girl's father, said the family agreed to begin two years of treatments for Sarah last spring but stopped a second round of chemotherapy in June because it was making her extremely sick.... Sarah begged her parents to stop the chemotherapy and they agreed after a great deal of prayer.... The family, members of an insular Amish community, shuns many facets of modern life and is deeply religious.... They opted to consult with a wellness center and treat Sarah with natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins, and see another doctor who is monitoring their daughter.... Hershberger said they have not ruled out returning to Akron Children's Hospital if Sarah's health worsens.
