Should Adolescents Have the Right to Make Autonomous Medical Choices?

Introduction

• Speaker: Sammie
• Topic: Adolescents' right to make autonomous medical choices (AMC)
• Identification: As an adolescent, personal connection to the topic
• Context: Debate topic at the Harrison debate team

Definition of Autonomous Medical Choices (AMC)

• Adolescents: Ages 12-17
• Autonomous Decision: 100% independently made without external pressure (e.g., parents, medical professionals)

Study Reference

• Conducted at Cornell University
• Top five phrases parents say to their kids
• If AMC were legal, it would align with these parental phrases
  1. Grow up
  2. Be more responsible
  3. Make better choices
  4. Take better care of yourself
  5. Because I said so

Key Points Linked to Parental Phrases

1. Grow Up

• AMC: Empower adolescents to demand state inclusion
• State Inclusion: Participation in society; laws preventing autonomy block participation

2. Be More Responsible

• Adolescents are politically disenfranchised and dependent on adults
• Lack of medical autonomy marginalizes their experiences
• Responsibility: Adolescents with decision-making power have a voice in their own lives

3. Make Better Choices

• Social Inclusion: Ability to participate in society post-decision-making
• Motivation: Adolescents need motivation to make future decisions

4. Take Better Care of Yourself

• Self-Handicapping: Actions limiting future opportunities
• Learning to use rights through AMC combats stigma against adolescents

5. Because I Said So

• Learned Helplessness: Adolescents become reliant on adults, lose decision-making skills
• Authority Abdication: Dependence on adults discourages self-reliance in the future

Examples

1. Adeline Keshe (1992)

• Background: Jehovah’s Witness, age 16, leukemia
• Needed blood transfusion, against personal beliefs
• Grandparents overrode her wishes
• Lack of autonomy marginalized her experience

2. Dennis Lindberg (1997)

• Background: Age 16, head-on car accident, vegetative state
• Did not want extraordinary measures to save his life
• Mother overrode his wishes; extraordinary efforts were ineffective

3. Cassandra C. (2010)

• Background: Age 17, lymphoma, required chemotherapy
• Did not want chemotherapy, parents wanted it
• Strapped to a bed, forced to undergo treatment
• Felt it should be her choice, not others’

Moving Forward

• Mature Minor Doctrine: Courts can determine if an adolescent is mature enough to make their own decisions
  • Subjective; not always effective
• Legislation Needed: To solidify the right to AMC

Conclusion

• Importance of doctor-patient and parent-child discussions
• Ensuring autonomy leads to social inclusion, state inclusion, self-empowerment
• Quote: Jim Posnick from Cornell study, emphasizing the individual's right over their body and life

Final Points

• Participation in society and self-empowerment requires autonomous decision-making rights
• Adolescents should be empowered to have control over their bodies and lives

Thank you