Ohio Appeals Court Appoints Medical Guardian Over Amish Family's Religious Objection to Chemotherapy
In October 2013, an Ohio appeals court ordered that a limited guardian be appointed to make medical decisions for 10-year-old Sarah Hershberger after her Amish parents, citing religious beliefs, stopped chemotherapy for her leukemia. The family briefly left the country; the guardianship was eventually dissolved in 2014.
Sarah Hershberger, an Amish girl from Medina County, Ohio, was diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma in 2013. After beginning chemotherapy at Akron Children's Hospital, her parents Andy and Anna Hershberger discontinued treatment, publicly citing their religious beliefs and the harshness of the treatment. Akron Children's petitioned for a limited guardianship; the trial court initially refused, but Ohio's Ninth District Court of Appeals reversed on Oct. 8, 2013 and directed appointment of an attorney-nurse as limited guardian. The family briefly relocated abroad. In 2014 the guardianship was dissolved after the family and hospital reached an accommodation. The case is repeatedly cited in law-review and bioethics literature on parental religious speech and family-court intervention.