custody.....

ok, so i read recently with mixed feelings about the 13 year-old texas girl taken away from her parents so that she could get the cancer treatment that her parents had refused to get for her.......she has hodgkins disease.....and her parents declined to allow the radiation treatment, saying that it might raise her risk of getting breast cancer.....i say mixed feelings because i am torn between the notion that parents are the caretakers of their children until age 18 by law and by custom......and the notion that the state exists to protect the interestd of all, even though one is under 18..... i am against the parental notification laws that require that girls under the age of 18 seeking abortions must first get parental approvals......gentle readers.......i understand that one either believes in the sanctity of parenthood, or not......but i also believe that their are parents who have no idea how to parent, or how and when to protect their children, and those who force their value systems upon their offspring.....and this clearly muddies the waters of my already murky opinions.......and so the girl from texas will have her radiation this week, and her parents will be at her side during the ordeal......and many will be thrilled that the state stepped in to protect the child, and many will be horrified that the state stepped in to take away parental rights......and both sides will be right, and both sides will be wrong.......