The mother is clearly an idiot. That being said, it seems like a lot of the situation could have been diffused by simply letting her have a second opinion. The mother would in all probability still be an idiot and counsel her daughter to refuse treatment - fine. Take action then if action needs to be taken. But 2nd…

She's batshit insane and thinks her daughter will be fine without the chemo. I had all the same worries as you, then I heard an interview with the mother. She is not in her right mind or capable of making these decisions for her child. The "second opinion" thing is bullshit.

Exactly. And we really don't know how much this girl is doing of her own free will.

It's a crappy situation. Letting her die is not the answer, though. She will die without chemo, and the fact her mom is "she's fine, she's not going to die" completely undermines the "I just wanted a second opinion!" part.

As a CT native and a health care professional, this situation disturbs me. My college health care ethics course emphasized autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice as the four key tenets of medical ethics. This case and the behavior of the health care professionals involved doesn't seem to be doing a great…

I just lived through six rounds of chemo, and yes, it was fucking awful. But you know what? It sure beats the alternative, which was dying. "Possibly having issues for the rest of your life" is a far better option that "certainly not living."

I heard an interview with her mother this morning and she said, "This isn't about death, she's not going to die without the chemo." So, uh, yeah, I don't trust the mother's sanity.

This girl is clearly being brainwashed by her ignorant idiot of a mother. If her refusal to get chemo for her cancer doesn't convince you, look at their eyebrows.

It's a slippery slope when you deny anyone freedom of Choice. Chemo, vaccines, abortions. It is all the same argument. Anyone who says differently is full of shit and a giant hypocrite. And probable don't even realize how much they have been brained washed by big Pharmy. Sheep.

I agree but I'd like him to be secure enough in his manhood to be able to call himself a feminist- especially since we have a young daughter who we both want to live in a world that's better to women.

Evolution is to Evo-Psych as Astronomy is to Astrology.

Cares about censorship, a lot.

there are some amazing fucking dudes on the jezosphere. DUDES ILU

This. Yes - he doesn't have to be in the front row of a pro-choice protest. At minimum, don't participate in problematic conversations with other men; but to even start to get on the path to feminism, you need to stand up for women in a crowd of men.

My dad is the feminist who doesn't know he's a feminist. And, holy shit, don't you dare call him a feminist. (but he's totally a feminist)

They're about 10 years, one tax bracket, and three guns away from being a Texas Libertarian.

Does he need to be actively fighting for social, political and economic justice for women — and for all people, really — to identify as a feminist? (Not necessarily. But if he's doing that, great.)

Indeed. For the most part, this guy is a Liberal Non-Feminist or an Academic Feminist dressed up in some self-justifying rhetoric. When it comes down to it, the only discrimination he cares about is discrimination against atheists. At most, he may care about class or disability discrimination, if either of those…

Actual male feminists are the greatest! Like my dad, who did most of the parenting and showed me from birth that gender roles are bullshit. Or my friend who set me straight a long time ago when I said something truly ignorant about, "How can it be rape if the person doesn't try to say no or resist?" Or like a lot of…

Um, I object to "the Humanist boyfriend will do in a pinch". He will not. He is, in fact, among the worst of this terrible, terrible list.

My husband falls clearly under the "Feminist Who Doesn't Know He's A Feminist Until You Tell Him." He does fully 50% of the child-rearing (when he comes home our daughter becomes his shadow), and also does the majority of cooking/ cleaning/ shopping because I'm so damn sick all the time. If I was physically able to…