The case of 17-year-old Cassandra C. will be heard by the state’s Supreme Court on Thursday.
A Connecticut teenager who is being forced by state authorities to undergo chemotherapy treatments is taking her fight to the state Supreme Court.
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The 17-year-old, identified as "Cassandra C.," was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in September, court documents say.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease is more rare than the other common type of cancer of the lymphatic system, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The Hartford Courant reported that Cassandra has an 80% to 85% chance of survival if she undergoes chemotherapy treatments. However, after she was diagnosed, Cassandra decided not to undergo treatment.
Her mother, Jackie Fortin, told the Hartford Courant that her daughter's choice was not religiously motivated and she did not influence her daughter's decision.
"It's her constitutional right — she doesn't want poison and toxins put in her body," Fortin said. "It's her choice, and I support her decision."
After undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy, Cassandra ran away from home. When she returned, a trial court ordered Cassandra removed from her home and gave the DCF authority to make medical decisions on her behalf.
She has since started chemotherapy treatments.
Fortin and Cassandra argue that the court's ruling violates their constitutional rights and that they should be allowed to make their own decisions as long as neither of them has been declared unfit.
They are asking the state to invoke the "mature minor doctrine," a common law principle that allows minors to make their own decisions if they are deemed to have the maturity to do so.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1BD88rB
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