THEIST_WATCH
  Msg  : 83                                         Written : 08/23/94 04:55pm
  From : ROBIN MURRAY-O'HAIR                        Status  :                 
  To   : ALL                                                                  
  Subj : Sick Kids, Relig. Parents                                            

             Protecting Kids from Religious Parents

     Growing up in a religious home can spell misery for kids --
but for others it can mean death if their parents rely
exclusively on faith healing for medical care. Yet several states
allow parents to deny medical care to their children if the basis
for the refusal is religious.

     One such law is coming under fire in Ohio. On Friday, August
12, a group called Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD)
filed a civil rights complaint against the faith healing
exemption of Ohio's child endangerment statute. According to the
group's lawyer, Scott Greenwood, the complaint seeks that the
"spiritual treatment exemptions" of the statute be declared void.
The grounds are that the exemptions deprive children of faith
healing parents of equal protection and due process.
Additionally, the suit claims, the exemption favors a particular
religion.

     Speaking for the group, Greenwood stated that "This is not
an attack on the First Amendment rights of people who believe in
faith healing. We just don't believe the First Amendment allows
them to inflict their views upon their children and let them die
from such things as infections, when one quick trip to a doctor
would cure the problem. Children should not have to die to uphold
the religious beliefs of their parents."


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