"'Not quite," I (Campbell) say. "We're representing her. I need to dictate a petition for medical emancipation, so that you can file it with the family court by tomorrow."
"Get out! You're representing her?"" (pg 24)
In the beginning of the book, younger sister Anna ventures into Campbell Alexander's law office to request his help to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Although I knew what this book was about before I started reading it, this whole concept is so alien to me. I couldn't imagine going against my ill sister and my entire family to prove a point. I understand that Anna has been put through many intense medical procedures and that she believes that donating a kidney is crossing the line, but it takes an exceptional amount of courage and stubbornness to put your resistance into action. The surgery required to donate a kidney is major; Anna's life would forever be different and Kate might not even survive the procedure.
Being that I have gone through major surgery before, I can relate to her feelings of resilience; it's scary and painful, and I can understand wanting very much to avoid it. But to Anna, her lawsuit is more than avoiding surgery. Her family life is twisted by her sister's illness, and she feels like she is seen as a resource by her parents rather than a normal child. She reacts by hiring lawyer Campbell, and petitions for medical emancipation from her parents, so that she will be able to made her own decisions regarding her medical treatment and the donation of her kidney. Anna's mother, Sara, is an ex-lawyer and decides to represent herself and her husband in the lawsuit. Over the course of the novel, she tries on several occasions to make Anna drop the lawsuit. Anna refuses to do so, but the resulting tension between her and her mother result in her moving out of the house to live with her father Brian in the fire station where he works.
Anna definitely makes a difference in her life and the life of her parents and siblings, but I don't believe it is a good difference. I can appreciate her courage, but part of me is convinced that she is mostly stubborn and obstinate. Frankly, I just don't think its worth it. She ostracizes her family in the hopes to have the rights to her body that she would have anyway when she is 18! She has wanted her parents to treat her equally, but now with this show, her parents will not think the same of her. They might think back to how they might have caused this, but at the same time, they are still losing their oldest daughter. In fact, they are losing all three of their children; Anna is standing up to them, Kate is dying, and Jesse is just a wreck.
Anna is indeed one person making a difference, but I don't agree that it is the total right thing to do.
"Get out! You're representing her?"" (pg 24)
In the beginning of the book, younger sister Anna ventures into Campbell Alexander's law office to request his help to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Although I knew what this book was about before I started reading it, this whole concept is so alien to me. I couldn't imagine going against my ill sister and my entire family to prove a point. I understand that Anna has been put through many intense medical procedures and that she believes that donating a kidney is crossing the line, but it takes an exceptional amount of courage and stubbornness to put your resistance into action. The surgery required to donate a kidney is major; Anna's life would forever be different and Kate might not even survive the procedure.
Being that I have gone through major surgery before, I can relate to her feelings of resilience; it's scary and painful, and I can understand wanting very much to avoid it. But to Anna, her lawsuit is more than avoiding surgery. Her family life is twisted by her sister's illness, and she feels like she is seen as a resource by her parents rather than a normal child. She reacts by hiring lawyer Campbell, and petitions for medical emancipation from her parents, so that she will be able to made her own decisions regarding her medical treatment and the donation of her kidney. Anna's mother, Sara, is an ex-lawyer and decides to represent herself and her husband in the lawsuit. Over the course of the novel, she tries on several occasions to make Anna drop the lawsuit. Anna refuses to do so, but the resulting tension between her and her mother result in her moving out of the house to live with her father Brian in the fire station where he works.
Anna definitely makes a difference in her life and the life of her parents and siblings, but I don't believe it is a good difference. I can appreciate her courage, but part of me is convinced that she is mostly stubborn and obstinate. Frankly, I just don't think its worth it. She ostracizes her family in the hopes to have the rights to her body that she would have anyway when she is 18! She has wanted her parents to treat her equally, but now with this show, her parents will not think the same of her. They might think back to how they might have caused this, but at the same time, they are still losing their oldest daughter. In fact, they are losing all three of their children; Anna is standing up to them, Kate is dying, and Jesse is just a wreck.
Anna is indeed one person making a difference, but I don't agree that it is the total right thing to do.
