Parenting Choices: What Constitutes Neglect?

The World

Two stories in different parts of the country have re-ignited the issue of when the state should step in and take over for parents. Yesterday a Minnesota judge ruled that the parents of thirteen-year old Daniel Hauser can regain custody of their son as long as he gets the cancer treatment that he needs. The Hausers lost custody of Daniel when his mother took him off of his chemotherapy treatments and then fled to California to escape a court order to resume the treatment. And last week the state of South Carolina set out to determine whether a child’s morbid obesity is enough to charge the parents with neglect. The Takeaway talks to Kate Dailey, who writes for the Human Condition blog for Newsweek magazine about where we draw the line on negligence. To watch an interview with the Hausers, click here.

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