'The Ashley Treatment'

I was looking on CNN and found this article.  I'm not 100% sure how it has to do with free speech but I think it is really interesting.  The article describes the actions of two parents who made a very controversial decision about the care of their ten year old mentally disabled daughter.  Their daughter was born with brain-damage and a condition described as static encephalopathy, or cerebral palsy.  Ashley's parents made the decision to preform controversial growth-attenuation therapy.  This surgery treatment prohibited the growth hormone making it easier for the caregivers to take care of this young girl.  Ashley will never walk or talk and doctors who perform these treatments feel that it makes a significant impact on the caregivers ability to provide a quality life.  Although this treatment is done by doctors through out the country it was particularly controversial in this case because it was illegal in the state where it was done and the doctor who performed the treatment committed suicide in the year after.  This case was published in a medical journal but did not gain more wide spread attention until the family posted their account of the situation on their blog.  Their hope was to inform more parents on this possible treatment but instead they gained a lot of negative attention from people who did not agree what they have done.  Like I said I'm not sure how exactly this would relate to free speech but I think it is interesting.  Let me know what you think about this controversial case.