The court case against Jacob Stieler's parents, Ken & Erin, has the world outraged, but today…
We've got some promising news from the Stieler family!
- If you’re reading this later, click here and scroll down to start at the beginning for all the posts on Jacob Stieler’s case, including current updates.
- Click here for all my parental rights posts in one place.
Today we'll hear again from Jacob's Aunt Rachel, who emailed soon after Thursday's court hearing to share this update:
Hi Kelly,
So, I've been on the phone for a couple hours now. I talked to Erin and she said the hearing went very well. Michael Farris (their lawyer) flew in last night to be there for Erin and Ken today. Erin said he did a great job–she wishes she could get a copy of the TV6 video and make copies for all of us. 🙂
The hearing started at 1:30, but the judge and lawyers were in the chambers until 2:00. They went over the motions that the DHS filed…three big ones:
1. Would Erin and Ken would be allowed to have character witnesses for the trial?
2. Would Dr. Markman (CS Mott) and Dr. Brown (HDCH) be allowed to testify?
3. Would the case be dismissed altogether?
The judge stated that he WOULD be making a decision today regarding dismissal of the case. However, after going over the depositions that Michael Farris did with Dr. Kurt, Dr. Markman, etc., he said he needed more time to look over the facts and would make his decision sometime next week. (A good sign, I think!)
The other two motions were decided in Erin and Ken's favor. They WOULD be allowed to use character witnesses, and Dr. Markman and Dr. Brown would NOT be able to testify. They are pediatricians, not oncologists. They are child abuse doctors–and anything they would have to say would be irrelevant.
Yay! 🙂
Erin wasn't sure if she would have time to get online tonight, so she gave me this quote to send to you:
“Even though the judge did not make a decision today to dismiss the case, we are still hopeful because he's taking time to look over the facts. Thank you to everyone who has been keeping us in their prayers and supporting us over the past several months.”
The hearing started at 1:30, but the judge and lawyers were in the chambers until 2:00. They went over the motions that the DHS filed…three big ones:
“Even though the judge did not make a decision today to dismiss the case, we are still hopeful because he's taking time to look over the facts. Thank you to everyone who has been keeping us in their prayers and supporting us over the past several months.”4 SIMPLE WAYS YOU CAN HELP!
Your support for the Stielers has been beautiful, powerful, and heart-melting. If you're still feeling the same passion that I am to do something, below are 4 easy ways that you can help:
1. According to Rachel, if this case is dismissed, or even if Erin and Ken win, the DHS can file for an appeal. The only person who has the power to deny the appeal is the Attorney General, Bill Schuette. So, it's worth a try, please let's flood his office with kind letters of support for the Stielers and requests that he will see this case for what it is: a bunch of garbage that tramples on the rights of every parent!
Bill Schuette
c/o Michigan Dept. of Attorney General
State Office Building, Suite 4C
350 Ottawa NW
Grand Rapids, MI 495032. Please go sign their petition at Change.org, it only takes one minute. Let's try to get them up over 2500 signatures!
3. Continue to send snail mail AND email letters to Maura D. Corrigan, and try calling, too! Remember, though, be kind. We are in the right, we don't need to be angry or rude. (Thank you!) Also, even if you sent in a letter last week, don't let that stop you from sending in another one please! (I just love picturing desks over-flowing with letters in their office…)
Maura D. Corrigan, DHS Director
P.O. Box 30037
Lansing, MI 48909
(517) 373-2035
Email via this contact form or try this one: [email protected]4. If you could go to the Hope for Jacob site and help the Stielers with legal costs it would be HUGE. Even $5. Thank you so much for your care and compassion for this family, and remember that this battle is all of ours.
***Please share a note of support for the Stielers in a comment below, and don’t forget to keep watching my Kitchen Kop Facebook wall and the Hope for Jacob wall to stay updated on the latest with the Stielers. THANK YOU!
Did you miss the whole story?
- Part 1 – Shocking Details on the Horrific Case Against Jacob Stieler’s Parents
- Part 2 – Shocking Details on the Horrific Case Against Jacob Stieler’s Parents
- Do we have the right to deny harmful medical treatment for our kids?
- If you’re reading this later, click here and scroll down to start at the beginning for all the posts on Jacob Stieler’s case, including current updates.
- Click here for all my parental rights posts in one place.
- The grim truth about America’s so-called war on cancer
- Erin Stieler’s radio interview with Dave Gahary (American Free Press)
- PLEASE visit ParentalRights.org/petition and sign up if you haven’t done so already. Have you seen this 7 minute short version of “Overruled, government invasion of your parental rights”?
Sally_Oh says
I know the attorneys behind the parental rights amendment are well-meaning and sincere — they are the same people behind the home school legal defense fund — but they are horribly, dangerously wrong. The amendment actually GIVES our parental rights to a judge. Literally and permanently.
Please read my post on the topic and think about it: https://www.kyfreepress.com/2015/05/a-parental-rights-amendment-what-could-possibly-go-wrong/
The Parental Rights Amendment has a great name, kinda like the Patriot Act and the Food Modernization Act… but it does the opposite of what is intended.
April says
CPS has really taken over everyones life they don’t care about the kids just like the hospitals don’t care all they care about is the money they get for takeing away a child from their parents. There are kids out there that do need help but they pick on the inocent parents that are doing their best. when you got a sick kid you learn how to deal with it and than it just comes natural. What CPS is doing to them is harrassment they get this case done they need to get a lawsuit on CPS and the hospital cause the hospital should being doing their job and they don’t know how. The doctors at Mott chilrens don’t know nothing they need to go back to school. We know our kids better than anyone in the world they need to let us take care of them and just back off.
Kara Terpstra says
HI Kelly,
I know a family here locally here in Grand Rapids that has a 6 year old with leukemia (Acute lymphoblastic leukemia). I saw it was mentioned in one of these articles that these parent’s are treating him with natural health and I was wondering if you know exactly who they take him to so I can possibly refer.
Thank you so much,
Kara
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Kara,
The Steilers live way up in the U.P., but there are some good natural practitioners around here, too.
Email me & I’ll share some names. 🙂
Kelly
Pat Robinson says
I contacted the ACLU of Michigan with information about this case and received this reply:
We haven’t heard directly from the parents. They are welcome to contact us.
Sincerely,
Brenda Bove
Paralegal
American Civil Liberties Union
Fund of Michigan
2966 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313-578-6802 (direct)
313-578-6811 (fax)
[email protected]
http://www.aclumich.org
Valerie Olson says
One might wonder what is motivating Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital to pursue a case that only involves one patient. Yes, the $60,000 per month for Jacob’s treatment is a reality, but perhaps the bigger threat is the precedent that is set for all vulnerable parents of children with life-threatening diseases. Perhaps these parents, many of whom have been bullied and threatened by their doctors that their child may be removed from them if they fail to continue with “standard of care” treatment, might feel empowered by this case to choose to make their own decisions. Maybe they would realize that there are alternatives to our “standard of care”, and even supplemental therapies, which the Stielers have implemented with their son Jacob. Maybe they would come to realize that they TRULY are the experts when it comes to their own child, and are very capable of making informed decisions for the one whose care has been entrusted to them by God. What happened to “liberty and justice for all”? And since when does MD stand for “Medical Diety”? And by what authority does a physician, hospital, or the state of Michigan intrude upon the sanctity of the family, and force decisions upon informed, knowledgeable parents who love their son far more than any physician or hospital or state DHS ever could? And what will be the next level of interference by the DHS into the arena of parental rights? Once it starts, where does it stop? This case is about the liberty of ALL parents to make medical choices for their child. Just as any adult may decline any treatment offered by a physician, so may the parents of any minor, or so we have assumed.
Apparently the local DHS was quite ready to dismiss this case months ago, finding no evidence of “medical neglect”, and therefore recommending to DHS headquarters in Lansing dismissal of this case. But apparently Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital threatened the state DHS with a lawsuit if they dropped the case. Hmmmm…..must be alot at stake for them.
I hope Judge Solka reads the deposition taken with Jacob’s attending physician very carefully, as he will surely see the extreme arrogance of this doctor in stating that SHE surely should be the one to make this risky decision for the Stieler family, that she is the one who knows best. Wow! This is SO
about a physician whose ego was wounded by a courageous young mother who dared to challenge her question of,
“Don’t you trust me to know what is best for your son?” by answering “No, I do not trust that you know what is best for our son.” This was said after the first clear PET scan in July. And this was the cause of the charges of “medical neglect”.
There is no definitive way to prove that Jacob still has cancer cells in his body, but then we do know that most of us have some cancer cells in our body that our immune system is continuously destroying. The best test is the PET scan, and by that test Jacob is showing no evidence of cancer. Building up his immune system, strengthening his body, and NOT exposing him to additional stress by continuing chemotherapy treatments which were extremely traumatic to him both physically and emotionally, would indeed seem to be the best way to keep this beautiful young boy free of cancer. And this is exactly what Ken and Erin Stieler are doing. What amazing, responsible, and courageous parents, to dare to stand up and say “No! you will not have your way with our son!” May we all stand with them, and voice our outrage, because one day we could be the ones to be so challenged.
D. says
If the Stielers win this case (and I fervently hope they do) their next step should be away from a hospital setting like this, and go to a place like the one in Houston, TX run by Stanislaw Burzynski. Read an article here: https://www.newswithviews.com/Ryter/jon353.htm and here: https://www.burzynskiclinic.com/
A most interesting story because he’s been fighting the DOJ and the medical industry, etc., for decades. He has answers but the FDA is resistant to using their own drugs and the doctors and hospitals of the modern medical dogma don’t want a cure or even a partial cure. Just think of the money lost when people actually get well and go home . . . hey, we can’t have any of that going on!
Please read those links and pass them on so that others may learn about this wonderful man and all he’s been through.
Valerie Olson says
The Stielers did check into the Bryzinski clinic, but the FDA has stepped in and regulated the type of cancer they may treat, now that they are doing clinical trials per FDA guidelines, and they may not treat any cancers but brain tumors, and only those cases of brain tumors that have first failed to respond to chemotherapy and radiatian. So that’s what happens when the FDA steps in, after trying to put such a wonderful doctor in jail, take away his license, and harrass him since 1985. Here he came, to America, to practice medicine in a “free” country, but, alas, he was curing too many types of “hopeless” cancers, and was therefore a huge threat to Big Pharma, and the FDA, who does their bidding. Billions of dollars in profit were at stake here, and you need only follow the money trail, and so Jacob’s Ewing sarcoma could not be treated there.
Valerie Olson says
It is important to remember that the hospital has much at stake should all parents realize their liberty to make medical choices for their children. Jacob’s attending physician MUST claim that Jacob still has cancer, that their conventional treatment is the only way he will be saved, and that this treatment is both safe for Jacob and effective for his type of previously diagnosed cancer. None of these claims can be proven, yet the entire case for the DHS rests upon these three statements being true. If this does go to trial, we hope that the jury and the public gain a greater awareness of the broad range of possibilities in the area of cancer treatment, and remember that it always should be the patient, or the patient’s parents,who makes the choice as to the type of treatment. Empowered, knowledgeable parents will stand up to the medical system more readily, knowing that they are in the best position to make decisions for their child. We can surrender our rights, or take a stand and say “No!”
The Stielers have taken a courageous stand, and we must stand with them to maintain our liberty to choose what we deem to be best for our children. $10 from 100 individuals will greatly help with their legal fees, and their battle is not just for themselves, but for ALL parents.
ValerieH says
Dropping the case seems like such a no-brainer. He doesn’t HAVE cancer right now! Why do we have laws that allow this kind of interference?
Amber J says
I cannot believe this case hasn’t been dropped already. Its obviously not what is in the best interest of Jacob. It seems to me that cps should be thinking about what is best for him as his family is obviously doing! Its so frustrating to me that this can even happen at all. As a parent who usually chooses “alternative treatments for my daughters this is really scary!
Stanley Fishman says
This was never about what was best for Jacob, but about money and power for the hospital and the medical system. The judge should dismiss this case.
Emily says
I was unaware of this issue. As a former schoolteacher, I can tell you that there are some major nutjobs working in CPS and by mid-career I always hesitated to make a call of suspected abuse.
Tienne McKenzie says
Thank you so much for this update, and for your attention to this important issue. I shudder to think what I would do if I were faced with a similar situation. God bless the Stieler’s for their courage and conviction!