Susan writes:
>Once the baby is born, it's another story. Historically the courts have found
>a compelling state interest in the lives of its citizens. Therefore, the
>state can intervene to protect that interest, even at the expense of a
>parent's right to make decisions about the welfare of his or her own child.

It's interesting that the states don't seem to recognize that choosing to
bottle-feed can put the baby at risk.  As someone else stated, and I believe
it bears repeating again and again -- formula-feeding is viewed as a
risk-free option, even though the scientific evidence shows that it is
clearly not risk-free.  If you add up all the increased risk of disease and
death across the life-span from being formula-fed, how would it compare to
the 14% or 30% rate from HIV?  And I'm sure there are even those who would
argue that a child's life of say, 3-5 years being breastfed and nurtured and
loved and then dying of AIDS has more value than a longer life being
bottle-fed.  There is a case of a woman who has HIV and her kids -- one has
already died of AIDS, the other is a little boy who is HIV+ like the mom,
and she has refused treatment for him.  She believes the AZT and other
treatments that her daughter got made her life miserable and hastened her
death.  She wants her son to have a "normal childhood" as much as possible,
and that means no treatment.  She has clearly said that she doesn't think
prolonging his life by a few years is worth making what life he has
miserable from the treatment.

Again, just listing various arguments.

Should the state insist that a mother breastfeed if there is a family
history of allergies, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and breast cancer??  In
other words, a situation where it is clear that formula-feeding puts the
child at unacceptable levels of risk of disease and death??

Kathy Dettwyler

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