So, You Think You Have the Right to Choose? 

I have recently had an experience that has given me pause to reflect on the "patient's rights" that healthcare facilities have been mandated to uphold by various legislating bodies. Sounds good, right? Like we have a right to a second opinion if we don't agree with our doctor, or we have the right to choose another doctor if we don't feel comfortable with the one the HMO assigned us? This is a free country. Say, if we didn't want to choose any of the treatments outlined by our doctor, we could do so without fear of being arrested or losing our basic rights, couldn't we?

Maybe not. Children have been removed from homes when the parent(s) refused certain medical treatments. Pilots can lose the right to fly if they refuse certain treatments, even if the treatment is potentially disabling, does not cure the disease at least some of the time, and even if there is nothing disabling about the disease in the first place. Sound crazy? It's not. It's your government hard at work "protecting" us from ourselves again.

Natural health care is not sanctioned by the government. That means if you rely on the government for some credential, license, job, etc, you MUST do what is sanctioned. Even if the treatment is not a cure, could kill or maim you, or does not stop you from losing that very thing you are trying to keep. Even if the unsanctioned treatment cures you, be prepared to prove that fact far beyond ordinary means.

So, I recommend you become more proactive about protecting your health rights. There are several web sites I recommend, and two of them are www.citizens.org and www.lef.org. Both help to keep you aware of legislation that can limit your right to choose natural measures if you want to! Subscribe to their newsletters, and help them out every now and again when you see them fighting something you can relate to.