I'm really not sure how I feel about this.

NORFOLK, Virginia (AP) -- A judge ruled Friday that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative treatment for his cancer must report to a hospital by Tuesday and accept treatment that doctors deem necessary, the family's attorney said.

The judge also found that Starchild Abraham Cherrix's parents were neglectful for allowing him to pursue alternative treatment of a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico, lawyer John Stepanovich said.

OK, yeah, that sounds goofy and weird. It's not the treatment I think I'd choose. But the kid is 16 years old - old enough in that same state of Virginia to go to prison for life for his own choices - and the state has entered the picture and told his parents that they cannot respect that same person's choices.

After three months of chemotherapy last year made him nauseated and weak, Abraham rejected doctors' recommendations to go through a second round when he learned early this year that his Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, was active again.

A social worker then asked a judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment. In May, the judge issued a temporary order finding Abraham's parents neglectful and awarding partial custody to the county, with Abraham continuing to live at home with his four siblings.

What exactly is the deal where states can imprison teens for life (many of them want to be able to execute teens, too), but they can't make their own medical choices with their parents' consent? I'm not in favor of the false hope of a sugar-free cancer cure, but I don't really see the state having any business telling anyone that age or older who is of sound mind that he can't make his own medical decisions.