From the November 2003 Idaho Observer:

Who owns our bodies -- ourselves or the state?

To “own” something is being able to treat it as “property.” Property is a thing over which we have the exclusive right to possess, enjoy or dispose of (give away, sell or destroy).

Most people would have a hard time regarding their own bodies as “property” over which someone has the right to possess, enjoy or dispose of. In the case of your children, if a government employee can convince a government court to order your child to take a toxic chemical or undergo invasive surgery, against your will, then it -- not you -- is exercising the rights of ownership over your child's body.

In 1977, a little boy named Chad Green was taken from his parents by the state of Massachusetts. Chad's leukemia was worsening under chemotherapy so they began using laetrile and nutrition therapy.

Although Chad was responding well to the “unconventional” therapies, the state arrested the Greens, placed him in foster care and administered carcinogenic chemotherapy to the child. A long and torturous court battle ensued and the state ultimately prevailed. Chad Green died in 1979.

Parents all over the nation are losing custody of their children amid charges of “neglect” if they refuse to vaccinate or medicate them with pharmaceutical drugs. In real terms, the government is exercising its right to “ownership” of our children.

In mid November a judge will decide if Parker Jensen, 12, of Sandy, Utah, will be forced to undergo chemotherapy though he has no sign of cancer.

Parker had a little tumor under his tongue removed last summer. Though he now enjoys good health and a blood test reveals no sign of cancer, the state believes his tumor was “Ewing's sarcoma,” and therefore will come back and kill him if he doesn't undergo chemotherapy.

His parent's believe chemotherapy may stunt their son's growth, make him sterile or possibly kill him.

At issue, then, is whether or not parents have the right to care for their children and prepare them for adulthood or if they are just feeding them so the state can subject them to dangerous medical interventions at its will and whim. (DWH)