(January 9, 2015 at 3:07 pm)TRJF Wrote: I absolutely 100% agree, but here's the thing:
Do we let a sane, well-informed 5-year-old decide not to get chemo?
A sane, well-informed 9-year-old?
I've said earlier in this thread, and I'll say it again, that I think 18 is too high an age at which to start letting people make their own medical decisions.
But the age can't be 4, can it? So, again, I ask, how do we deal with it?
Because if the answer is "in a certain age range, it's on a case-by-case basis," then the "meddling bastard sitting on a bench in some court room" is going to have a much greater say in far more cases.
It's time for science!
I think the best way would be to look at the studies of adolescent brains and their conclusion making skills to determine an appropriate age at which a human being can be considered emotionally and rationally fit enough to be responsible for his/her life. Sure, it would be a bit of a messy process and creating a rigid line in the sand would be imperfect, but it sure beats the hell out of letting any joe schmo with a robe on determining what we do with our bodies.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
