Testimony on faith healing: ‘A child is just as dead,’ ‘Right to practice religion’
Among those testifying today:
Linda Martin, who was raised in the faith-healing Followers of Christ, called for lifting Idaho’s religious exemption from child abuse, neglect and manslaughter laws. “Let’s be honest and ask the question: Do child abuse and neglect statutes apply to all of us in Idaho, or are some people above the law?” she said. “There’s no difference between a faith death and a criminal death. ... A child is just as dead. … But Idaho refuses to hold parents accountable.” She said, “Removing the shields and exemptions does not criminalize anything that isn’t already a crime. Removing the exemptions says nobody is above the law.”
Brian Hoyt, who grew up in a faith-healing sect, read the names of numerous babies and young children who have died in the Idaho sect since 2011 for lack of medical care, including a 15-year-old who died of a ruptured esophagus after several days of vomiting from food poisoning. “Dead kids. It can’t be any clearer. It’s not about religion or freedom,” he said. “Imagine the moments these children died, the days or even weeks of suffering before. … Imagine the row of seats behind me full of kids who could still be alive today. Everyone has a constitutional right to pray for healing,” he said, but not to allow children to suffer and die for lack of medical care. “Hold all parents accountable,” he said. “Our criminal laws reflect our social values. What does it say about Idaho, giving a free pass to a small religious minority in cases of manslaughter or criminal neglect of children? … Please have the political courage to repeal all four religious exemptions pertaining to medical care of sick and injured children. … No more free pass for religious exemptions.”
Jinny Peterson, a member of the group “Health Freedom Idaho,” said lawmakers on the panel can’t assume “that none of these children are ever getting well” when their parents pray for their healing. “I just don’t believe that that is true,” she said. She said she hoped lawmakers had the privilege of seeing miracles occur as a result of prayer. “We know that with any kind of treatment there is risk, and when there is risk there must always be a choice,” she said. “Choosing to put your faith in a medical doctor to treat your child and putting your faith in God to heal your child both involve risk. … They want to take away our right to determine for ourselves the risks that we choose to take and the choices we want to make. ... I want the opportunity to choose for myself and for my family.”
Ken Bemis, legal counsel for the Christian Science Church from Boston, said if Idaho’s current laws aren’t serving the best interests of children, they should be changed, but the state should approach the issue in a way that supports both safety of children and the freedom of parents to choose. He said he’s been healed by prayer many times.
Rose Gress said, “I’m not a faith-based person myself, but the first thing to do when anybody is sick is to call for prayer. Who’s to say that faith-based healing is not the way to go? … It is about freedom. It’s our right to choose the religion and practice the religion that we have. I myself was raised as a Mormon. … Faith-based can do a lot, it can do an awful lot for the kids. I agree that they should have rights to practice their religion.”
Bruce Wingate cited two U.S. Supreme Court decision that found that people “have the right to believe whatever they want, but they do not have the right to harm others because of their beliefs.” He said, “Idaho laws allow these parents to let their children suffer and die based on their beliefs.”
Lin Paporello, Idaho representative of the Christian Science Church, said, “As deeply as we value religious freedom, the best interest of a child must come first. ... The Christian Science Church recognizes that laws such as this may need to be rethought and rebalanced.” She said, “Turning responsibly to a form of care other than medical care should not in and of itself be considered neglectful.” But, she said, “We love our children deeply and our religion emphasizes and nurtures this love. We also respect medical doctors and their efforts to help, even as we turn in different directions ourselves. ... I am grateful for this legislative effort to ensure the right balance for respect for religious practice” and the need to ensure that “children are taken care of … as they should be.”
