And yet we must understand that if we spank the state and let the Jensens do as they please with Parker, we will be setting a dangerous precedent. We will be striking a blow against the sanctity of life — every bit as much as if we had legalized assisted suicide or human cloning.

There is a difference, all right, between David Fink and Parker Jensen. It is that Jensen is suffering from something microscopic. You can't see it wasting away his body. You don't see him strapped to a railroad track with a locomotive bearing down.

But it is there. Here is what doctors believe, according to a statement from the guardian ad litem, the state representative assigned to look out for Parker's needs: "These microscopic cancer cells cannot be detected, but the medical statistics show that these cells are present in the vast majority of cases. If chemotherapy is initiated before the cancer cells spread, Parker's chance of survival is 70 percent. If chemotherapy is initiated after the cancer cells spread, his chance of survival decreases to around 20 percent."

All David Fink needed was some nourishment. Parker Jensen needs something much more difficult and painful, and without it he likely will die.

So what will it be? Do we trust the established medical profession, or do we succumb to conspiracy theories and worries about jack-booted government thugs? Do we let parents submit their children to unproven procedures while precious time ticks away?

Oh yes, one other difference exists. With the Finks, the facts were clear. With the Jensens, so far the story has been mostly one-sided. The family has told its side. The state has been bound by confidentiality rules, fighting the public relations war with both hands tied behind its back.

That silence ended briefly last week when the guardian ad litem released a statement outlining how the diagnosis had been confirmed by the University of Washington Medical Center and the Los Angeles Children's Hospital.

It may have been too late. Already, overwrought state lawmakers were busy drawing up bills that would blur the lines between parents and the state.

If they succeed, we could discover someday how foolish we have been.

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Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com