'Abraham's law' would retool rules on treatment for children

"I think it's the right thing to do," Welch said.

But John Oliver, a deputy city attorney for the city of Chesapeake, think s it would muddy the waters and could lead to more court cases.

Oliver, who represents the city's Department of Human Services in court, said there are terms in the bill that are not easily defined, such as "sufficiently mature" and "life-threatening condition."

He said such a law would allow a child and parents who jointly refuse a recommended, proven treatment to override the government's interest in protecting the life of that child.

"This is not good public policy, and it is not good law," Oliver said. "I think people are moved with their hearts and not their heads."

He said the system worked for Abraham because a compromise was reached in which the teen returned to treatment by a U.S. board-certified doctor. That treatment, although it included some innovative methods, also included conventional treatment.

Betty Wade Coyle, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Hampton Roads, said the public still really only knows one side of the Abraham Cherrix story. She said she doesn't want her negative opinion of the bill to be construed as opposition to the family or Abraham, but rather opposition to what she considers a policy change that could harm children.

"It makes it more difficult to protect children," she said. "What we have now is very clear."

She questions what would happen if parents and a mature teen agreed that a lettuce diet was the best treatment for cancer. She said medical neglect cases are a small percentage of overall abuse cases - about 2 percent of substantiated abuse investigations in 2005 fell in that category - but social workers need the latitude to intervene.

Rose Cherrix, however, said she think s the law would spare other families from going through what hers endured. "It's easier to make a wise decision if you are not being pressured," she said.

She said the court battle, which ran from May through August, resulted in thousands of dollars of debt for the family, which includes four children besides Abraham. The kayaking business they own in Chincoteague had to shut down during numerous court dates and meetings with attorneys during their busiest time of year.

Jay and Rose Cherrix also have separated.

Ironically, Rose turned to the very people her family was fighting against - Accomack County Social Services - to ask for help after the court battle was over. She said she wasn't able to pay bills and she also needed help enrolling the children - who had been home-schooled - into public school.

"I invited them in to help me because of everything we had been through," Rose Cherrix said. "I called them and said, 'I need to talk to somebody,' and they talked to me in a heartbeat."

Still, she said she think s parents need to have broader rights in deciding which kind of medical treatment is best for their children without the threat of an abuse charge.