Rights of children
create murky law
It's been a confusing summer for advocates of chii
dren's rights. For a period of weeks, the saga of Baby Jes
sica enthralled the nation as two state supreme courts
and the U.S. Supreme Court were asked to determine
whether the rights of adoptive parents can supersede
those of biological parents
In that case, the courts were unanimous in their deci
sions that the rights of biological parents are paramount,
and Jessica was yanked from the only parents she had
known for her two years of life and sent to live with
strangers.
But only last week, an Illinois state court came to a dif
ferent conclusion in a nearly identical case. Both cases
began with biological mothers giving up their babies for
adoption while neither father knew of the child's exis
UTIII.U.
both fathers claimed
they had not given up their
parental rights and wanted
their children back. How
ever. the Illinois court
decided in the best inter
ests of the babv in that case
rather than of the biological
parents, unlike baby Jessi
ca.
Do children even
have rights and,
if so, what are
they and who
decides?
If that's not confusing enough, t- iorida courts added to
the quagmire with two decisions last week, both con
cerning teen-age c hildren.
A Florida appellate court ruled that the hoy known to
the nation as Gregory K., who successfully such! his bio
logic al mother for divorce so his foster parents could
adopt him. did not have l<*gnl standing to sue for divorce.
However, it also ruled that because other adults joined
the suit, it was still valid.
The ruling came shortly after a Florida trial c ourt ruled
that the biological parents of a 14-year-old girl who was
swapped at birth had no right to visitations with her.
Kimberly Mays, annoyed at attempts by her biological
parents to regain contact with her. sued for divorce,
using the Gregory K. case as precedent.
The judge in Mays' case wisely circumvented the
question of divorce, instead ruling that it was simply in
Mays' best interest to have no contact with hor biologi
cal parents.
The questions left hanging revolve around the defini
tion of family and deciding when a child is capable of
knowing what is in his or her best interest.
The attorney for Mays’ biological parents argued that
her host interests are irrelevant and the interests of the
biological parents are all that mattered. Clearly, this is
nonsense.
However, what, exactly, should he the guidelines for
making such a determination when there is no clear
answer. Had Mays' biological parents been drug-addled
felons with a history of violent crime, the decision
would bo obvious.
Even more to the point, what are children’s rights? Do j
children even have rights and. if so. what are they and
who decides? I>oos society want lawyers and the courts
to determine what constitutes a family? The questions
seem to grow every day. The answer. If there ever is any,
should be interesting.
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‘Prevention’ hard pill to swallow
-
In tint largest debate over
national health care that this
c ountry has ever had, the new
buzzword is "prevention." as
well it should lie.
It only stands to reason that
people who exercise regularly,
eat well and supplement their
diet with the vitamins and min
erals to make their immune sys
tem strong would have a far Ixit
ter chance at proper health than
someone whose diet consists of
Ixxir and chips and whose exer
cise regime consists of walking
from bed to the couch to the car
to their desk )ob.
Prevention is intertwined with
nutrition, and millions of con
sumers receive their nutrition
from vitamin and mineral sup
plements. herbal pills and tinc
tures. and products derived from
natural sources sold in health
food stores.
But the Food and Drug Admin
istration would have our freedom
to choose this type of healing tak
en away. And unless the FDA is
blocked by Congress, it shall get
its way. The FDA will make
amino acids (sued) as niacin) and
certain herbs available only with
prescription. It will withhold
information concerning health
claims on specific natural reme
dies unless its experts cum prove
that they are safe. And it will all
go into law Dec. 15. 1993. unless
it is stopped.
1 was in Sundance Natural
Foods last week Vitamin Man
ager Don Lane was just removing
the yellow police barricade tape
around the vitamins that showed
Sundance's participation in a
national blackout that started
Aug. 13 to protest the FDA's
agenda.
Nearby sat a table with infor
mation. a phone and writing
materials for contacting congres
sional representatives and the
FDA While it's obvious that busi
nesses sut I) as Sundam e would
lie hard hit by the proposed law.
there is much more at stake, such
as freedom to control and heal
our bodies how we choose, and
the restriction of health informa
tion to consumers.
1 surveyed the still partially
barricaded shelves and started to
realize the extent of products that
would I hi controlled by the gov
ernment.
some 01 me names on me noi
lles art* familiar to me There is
Kthinncea. an amino acid that my
dad takes to bolster his immune
system, and Valerian, an herb I
take monthly in tincture form to
cure crippling menstrual cramps.
Under the new FDA rules, my
dad could buy Kthinacea for pre
scription only, no doubt with
more trouble and higher expense.
For the FDA would have Ethi
nacaa and other amino acids clas
sified as "drugs." to be used only
for "drug-related purposes." In
other words, used as treatment,
and not prevention. An ad hoc
committee gathered by the FDA
itself could not prove that amino
acids were harmful, vet this
agency claims it is doing this for
our safety.
Furthermore, the new labeling
and classifying system of dietary
supplements, which is any type
of naturally derived product tak
en to supplement food nutrition,
would restrict information to con
sumers about any health claims
made on them, unless the FDA
proves those claims.
Call me a skeptic, but I doubt
the FDA would give proving a
health claim on an herb the time
of day.
"This is a freedom of choice
and a freedom of speech issue,"
l.ane said.
I had asked him about some of
the healing properties of some of
the bottles on the shelves and he
told me that he was forbidden by
the FDA to give out that infor
mation at this time. There have
!>een several documented armed
raids of health food and homeo
pathic medicine stores, and one
homeopathic physician has
already lost his license to pnn - J
lice. Lane said.
Flipping through a hook l
noticed a section on AIDS. The
authors write that because there
is no cure for the disease, the best
preventive measure is to strength
en the immune system. The hook
recommended taking protein
supplements in free form amino
acids because “protein in this
form is readily available for the
body's use and more easily
metabolized.”
It won't lie readily available if
the FDA gets its money-grubbing
hands upon them and makes
them prescription only The book
also recommends a Vitamin B
complex for AIDS prevention"
because it promotes normal brain
functions that are important for
a strong immune system. But
under the new rules, such health
claims won't be made and will tie
kept from us unless the FDA can
prove them. Given the current
trend in government research of
AIDS cures, let alone prevention.
I doubt they would even try.
Just think, the FDA may be
intervening in hundreds of cases
of AIDS prevention.
The FDA. the "Big Brother" of
health, only cares about turning
over the herbal healing industry
over to the hands of the pharma
ceutical companies with whom
they are financially linked. Nev
er mind that they are not the
same companies whom health
food consumers trust. Never
mind that the natural and organ
ic food industry employed 6,444
people last year. Never mind that
453 people died in 1969 from
FDA-approved prescription drugs
while none died from dietary
supplements.
If we lose control over our bod
ies. what will they take away
next?
Lia Salciccia is a columnist for
the Fimerald.