Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc .

Box 2604, Sioux City IA 51106 Number 1, 2007, © by CHILD, Inc. Phone 712-948-3500, FAX 712-948-3704 E-mail: [email protected] Web page: www.childrenshealthcare.org Written by Rita Swan Equal rights for children under the law abuse in May, 2003. She described Josef as “demon-possessed” with “his eyes rolling in the back of his head as if he were going through some transformation.” The boy called himself Legion, which means “many demons.” He wrote on the walls that he was going to kill everyone. He heated a fork and stuck it down a sibling’s pants, causing a permanent scar. She reported that the parents also claimed the boy was demon-possessed, had placed video cameras around the house to observe him, and were providing no mental health services. The Henry County Department of Family and Children’s Services (DFCS) relayed the report to Cobb County DFCS and requested a visit to the Smith home. Weeks later Henry County repeated its request. After Josef’s death Cobb County DFCS said the request had gotten misplaced. The Department also claimed, however, that the Henry County memo contained no allegations of abuse or neglect. “There’s nothing in that memo that says the Gwen Shamblin, Remnant Fellowship Leader parents might beat a child to death,” Cobb County Photo by Steve Harman/ The Tennessean DFCS Director Catherine Anderson said. Another teenager who babysat for Remnant Fellowship reported that Smith ordered her to hit Parents get life plus thirty years in Josef “hard” because he was crying. When she fatal beating refused, the father took him to another room, and

In March, 2007, Sonya and Joseph Smith of INSIDE Mableton, Georgia, were sentenced to life in prison Belief in demons maims and kills...... 5 plus 30 years in the beating death of their 8-year-old Quack doctor charged in autistic boy’s death ...... 6 son Josef. A Cobb County jury convicted them of Georgia parents convicted for starving son...... 6 murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, cruelty to Idaho suit over baby’s treatment goes forward ...... 7 a child, false imprisonment, and recklessness. Transplant supported over religious objections .....10 The Smiths belonged to Remnant Fellowship, a Charges dismissed in toddler’s death...... 11 church in Brentwood, Tennessee, that recommends Serenity or dissociation? ...... 12 severe corporal punishment of children on biblical Christian Science church advice to UK members..13 grounds. They are now in jail, and their surviving CS boy dies of diabetes; no charges...... 14 children are in foster care. Church tells members to raise the dead ...... 14 In Henry County, Georgia, Smith’s daughter by Encyclopedia articles ...... 16 a previous marriage had filed a report of suspected 2 then she heard the boy wailing more loudly. of him because he was so destructive and claimed to She quit her babysitting job the next day. She be “a soldier of the devil,” especially when the and her parents reported the incident to the Tennes- family engaged in religious activity, Mykel said. see Department of Children’s Services, which de- Family terrified of demon-possessed son clined to investigate, saying there wasn’t enough information to suspect abuse. On October 8, 2003, the family was watching a webcast church service of Remnant Fellowship State does not suspect abuse after baby’s death when Josef began “screaming, cursing, and carrying In July, 2003, the Smiths’ son Milek, age 17 on,” Mykel testified. “Every time we prayed, he months, died at home with no medical attention. tried to do things to my little brother James [age 2].” The medical examiner gave cardiac dysrhythmia The Smiths told Mykel to put Josef inside a (irregular heartbeat) as the cause of death. wood-lined chest. It was not as large as a cedar The death did get Cobb County DFCS out to chest; the boy would have fit snugly in prone posi- the home. Mrs. Smith would not allow the workers tion. After Mykel got Josef into the chest, he tied to talk to her children. They noted that the home the lid closed with an extension cord because Josef and the surviving children, all home-schooled, were kept “popping his head up.” clean and orderly. They found no reason to suspect Mykel testified that Josef continued cursing child abuse or neglect and closed the case. inside the box, yelling, “I’m going to kill all you Eleven weeks later Josef died. Mr. Smith told motherf—s when I get out. James is the first one on police officer Steven Gaynor the next day that Josef my list. I’m going to slit his throat.” acted demon-possessed. Smith claimed his eight- Ten or fifteen minutes later, he stopped yelling. year-old son was so strong that he could knock an Mykel cut the extension cord and opened the chest. adult out, often spoke in strange voices, and told Josef was unresponsive. them he was “a soldier of the devil,” Gaynor wrote. Mr. Smith ran to the chest, pulled his son out, Whipping sessions and isolation for days attempted resuscitation, and called 911. Josef died in a hospital a few hours later. Mrs. Smith told the police that she “normally” gave the children their whippings in increments of Eczema or bruises? ten blows each and that Josef had gotten several of Medical examiners testified that Josef died of those whipping sessions on the day of his death. blunt force trauma in “acute and chronic abuse” and The police reported that the Smiths locked positional asphyxiation. Autopsy photos showed Josef in his room to pray to a picture of Jesus on the his body covered with abrasions and bruises as well ceiling and in a closet for days and even weeks. He as brain swelling. was given only a bucket for a toilet. An older son Citing a high white cell count in Josef’s blood, sometimes held Josef down while the parents beat two doctors testified for the defense that Josef died him with implements. of an infection rather than blunt force trauma. A “No remorse” dermatologist testified that marks on Josef’s skin were because of eczema rather than bruising. Smith “jokingly told me. . . if he [Josef] ever The jury did not believe them and convicted the goes to the hospital, they’re going to drag mommy parents on all counts. The judge said their crimes and daddy to jail,” Gaynor reported. deserved the maximum punishment of life in prison Another police officer said the father told him plus thirty years. after Josef’s death, “I’m not going to lie to you— Church members paid for their bail and legal he’s bruised.” defense and crowded the courtroom. Church The parents “showed no remorse” and were leaders said the child’s death was an accident from “very defensive about their religion” and its recom- hitting his head on a banister. They described the mended discipline methods, the police wrote. Smiths’ discipline methods as “traditional spank- Josef’s older brother, Mykel Booth, age 16, ings and groundings of a child to his bedroom” and testified in court that Josef was frequently hit with denied they were abusive. foot-long glue sticks, coat hangers, belts, and an Remnant Fellowship was founded by Gwen extension cord. Everyone in the family was afraid Shamblin, who wrote The Weigh Down Diet. The 3 book, which claims obesity is caused by self- children open their eyes during prayers or hymn centeredness, has sold more than a million copies. singing or break any other rules, Remnant staff Remnant Fellowship claims about 1,000 members come to the parents during the service and whisper in some 130 cities. that the child must be removed from the sanctuary and spanked enough to make them too sorry to break the rules again. If children do not obey their parents the first time or if they’re slow to obey, they will live for only a few years on earth and have a horrible afterlife in eternal damnation, Shamblin claimed. Parents have only a small window of time to get their families in order because the refiner’s fire is coming through, she added. Her associate, David Martin, told about his three-year-old daughter’s willfulness. “We had a real showdown with her. We had to give her leg spankings over and over and over again for three weeks,” he said, but now they “hardly ever have to spank her.” Remnant Fellowship Church Photo by Jeanne Reasonover/ The Tennessean Spankings atone for parents’ sins After the 9/11 attacks Shamblin circulated e- “We are making little vessels for God to be mails comparing herself to the Old Testament King,” he said. “Love God more than you love prophets and saying she had been trying to warn these children. Then you will get a chance to cor- America. She claimed that only those who joined rect all the sins you have struggled with. . . . God her church would be saved from the coming will rule and you will get to correct everything you catastrophe. did wrong in your own life and break the power of Remnant’s materials emphasize obedience sin.” above all else. Its webpage had a testimony by a Shamblin chimed in that hitting your kids is a woman who was first hesitant to hit her kids, but way to cancel “past sins,” to “break the curse of sin later she did it “in order to save their souls from hell through the generations of your own family.” rather than being concerned about their flesh.” “You don’t have to do ‘these little pats,’” she “The Bible says that if you do not discipline added. “We want a real showdown with the child.” your child, you are ‘a willing party to his death,’” Sonya Smith then came on the line. Her son Remnant’s webpage claimed. Josef had destroyed everything of hers that he could A recording of a conference call between reach and tried to burn the house down. “He stran- Shamblin and her staff and “the scattered saints” on gled one of my babies, well, attempted to,” she February 3, 2003, is chilling evidence of the danger added. the Smith boys were in. Boy locked in room with Bible Shamblin holds up her own children as models of obedience. More than twenty years old, these Following the church’s advice, Smith said, “We children still cling to her and beg her for advice on spanked him on the sides of his thighs. We took how they can serve the Lord better. They are everything out of his room and locked him in his “afraid” to disobey her, she bragged. She has told room with only his Bible from Friday to Monday.” her adult son that she can “get on a chair and knock Now he’s a model child and always obedient, him in the head.” Smith claimed. He comes to her three or four times a day to ask how he can help his mother. Disobedient children will burn in hell Mom didn’t want “the world” involved Remnant children can sit through a 2-½ hour service without making a sound, Shamblin says. If If it weren’t for Shamblin, Smith said, “I would have had to go to the world—like the police.” 4 Shamblin then called for everyone to praise All publicity benefits church God because Josef had gone from “bizarre” to “in Like the Christian Science church and some control.” other sects, Remnant claimed the prosecution of Kids can’t be allowed to think about them- members was an opportunity to spread their faith. selves, Shamblin said. They must orbit around God Shamblin told Channel 5 that questions about and His children. “You’re raising kids who will Josef’s death were God’s way of getting out word never be on Prozac, never be depressed, never feel about the New Jerusalem to come. “God is making sorry for themselves,” she proclaimed. public what we are doing,” she said. Mental health treatment condemned The reporter asked her if it was OK to “lie for God’s sake.” Ex-members charge that Shamblin’s opposition “I believe if God calls you to, you’d better pro- to professional mental health services and psycho- tect Jerusalem,” she said, pointing to her Bible. tropic medication may have kept the Smiths from Many people in the Bible were rewarded when they seeking medical help for their disturbed child. “did that very thing to protect Jerusalem,” she said. Shamblin claims that depression is just self-pity and selfishness. She advises members to think What has been learned? about “poor God and His needs” instead of getting In an op-ed column, Georgia Juvenile Court therapy. Judge Tom Rawlings, now the state Child Advo- “Satan has really got a hold of the world right cate, wrote that social service systems need to be now with [anti-depressants],” she said. She calls more alert to the mental illnesses of children and worshipers to stand up in her church and say, “Get provide services when they receive reports of a off Prozac.” child behaving like Josef Smith. “You die! So what?” CHILD contacted several Georgia child welfare officials with our concern about the Cobb County In a webcast Remnant co-leader Ted Anger DFCS publicly stating that the reports on Josef did chastises members suffering from depression: not contain “accusations of abuse or neglect.” We “There is nothing to be concerned about. What’s asked how Georgia’s child protection workers are the worst thing that happens? You die! So what? trained on reports of child’s violent, bizarre beha- You go to heaven.” vior that parents attribute to demon-possession. We Remnant leaders told a member to take anti- would like to know whether the workers consider depressant drugs away from his wife and flush them that the child likely has a severe mental illness that down the toilet. urgently needs treatment or consider demon- Shamblin admitted the incident to the press, but possession to be a religious belief that the state said they “were only responding to the couple’s should not interfere with. We got no answers. cries for help.” Taken in part from The Atlanta Journal- She said Remnant does not coerce people to Constitution , March 18, 2004, Feb. 5-9, 2007, Feb. give up medication and even has a psychologist on 13-17, 2007, and March 28, 2007; Nashville Ten- their staff. However, as Nashville Channel 5 report- nessean , Feb. 8, 2007, and June 30, 2004; Nashville er Phil Williams said, “There’s no evidence that WTVF Channel 5 reports, Feb. 4-6, 2004, and June their staff did anything—other than encourage the 1, 2004; and a CD of a conference call between Smiths to get tougher on their troubled child.” Gwen Shamblin and her followers, Feb. 3, 2003. “We don’t leave marks.”

In the same interview Shamblin called corporal punishment of children a “loving, time-tested ancient teaching from the Bible.” She said their Belief in demons continues to maim punishments were not abusive because “we don’t and kill leave marks.” Anger claimed the corporal punishment recom- In August an Indiana pastor-in-training was mended by the church was only “a pat on the bot- charged with battery and false imprisonment after tom,” “a last resort,” and always done “in love.” performing an 11-hour exorcism on an autistic boy. 5 The boy’s mother said she asked the student but the mother blamed the devil instead of the fa- pastor, Edward Uyesugi, only to pray for her 14- ther. Eva and Joshua Mauldin had moved to Gal- year-old son, but Uyesugi said she asked him to veston, Texas, the day before because they believed exorcise a demon from the boy. Joshua had been called by God to be a preacher. According to the mother and other witnesses, Mrs. Mauldin said that Satan attacked her Uyesugi told the mother to remove the boy from the husband because he saw Joshua as a threat to his group home where he lived and bring him to her power. home in Bloomington for the ritual. Later, though, she said “Satan” was “working through [her husband’s] weaknesses” and described Exorcist assaults and yells at autistic boy those weaknesses as a mental disability for which Uyesugi was loud and boisterous, according to she had not been able to get help. their affidavits, and the boy tried to flee the room. The infant, Ana Marie, was hospitalized with Uyesugi grabbed the boy, pinned him to the floor, burns on her face and hand. The state has tempo- punched him several times, and yelled, “Come out, rary custody of her, but the mother vows to fight to you filthy demon!” have the baby returned to her. Uyesugi restrained the boy on the bed for hours Joshua Mauldin remains in jail and has been and stuck his fingers into the boy’s mouth repeated- charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily ly, causing him to vomit. Once blood was seen in harm. Judge Susan Criss ordered him examined by the vomit. The mother expressed concern, but Uye- a psychiatrist. sugi denied it was blood and called it Satan, accord- ing to her affidavit. Uyesagi said he put his fingers Exorcism kills autistic boy in Wisconsin into the boy’s mouth to “pull out” the evil spirits. In 2003 an autistic boy in Milwaukee, Wiscon- Hours later Uyesugi declared that the boy’s sin, died after enduring many “healing rituals.” He name was changed to Israel. But the boy refused to was beaten, held down to the floor, and yelled at to call himself Israel, so Uyesugi announced the drive out a devil. He died of asphyxia due to chest demons were still there and began the ritual again. compression as the minister lay on him and shouted The next day the mother drove her son to for “unclean spirits” to come out. Cherry Hill Ministries in Bloomington, where Sources include The Chicago Tribune , Sept. 5, Uyesugi worked. She showed the senior pastor that 2003; Galveston County Daily News , May 22-25 her son’s face was swollen and bruised. He also and Aug. 16, 2007; and The Indiana Daily Student , had black eyes. Aug. 2 and 6, 2007. The mother told police she thought Cherry Hill Ministries knew of the exorcism and consented to it. The church, however, denounced Uyesagi’s “unauthorized and unsupervised exorcism” and Doctor charged in fatal treatment for asked him to resign his church membership. autism

Arizona police save toddler from exorcism In August, a Pennsylvania doctor was charged In July police interrupted an exorcism in with involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, Phoenix, Arizona. After prying open a barricaded and reckless endangerment in the death of a 5-year- bedroom door, they saw Ronald Marquez choking old autistic child. Abubakar Tariq Nadama went his 3-year-old granddaughter. Her mother was into cardiac arrest during chelation therapy in 2005. standing by the bed chanting, naked and covered in The Nadamas moved from England to Pitts- blood, the police said. burgh so that their son could have chelation treat- Officers had to use a stun gun to force Marquez ments from Dr. Roy Kerry, owner of the Advanced off of the girl, who is now in state custody. Integrative Medicine Centers in Greenville and Portersville, Pennsylvania. Texas charges father for burning child in oven; mom blames devil No evidence that mercury causes autism In May a father severely burned his 2-month- Many people still believe the mercury preser- old daughter by putting her in a microwave oven, vative once used in vaccines causes autism, 6 although several research studies indicate that it Prosecutors argued that the baby was intention- does not. Furthermore, autism is a neurological ally murdered and the parents’ vegan diet only a disorder that cannot be remedied by removing any ruse. chemical from the body. Parents opposed medical care Chelation removes heavy metals and calcium from the body. It is approved by the U.S. Food and The parents, Lamont Thomas, 31, and his girl- Drug Administration to treat lead poisoning, but not friend, Jade Sanders, 27, testified that they did what to treat autism. Nevertheless, an estimated 10,000 they thought was best for their first child, Crown autistic children are given mercury-chelating agents Thomas. The baby was born in their bathtub at every year in the U.S. home and got no medical attention when alive be- Acting on Kerry’s directions, a medical assis- cause they believed hospitals were infested with tant gave Abubakar the chelating agent by an intra- germs. venous “push” within a few minutes whereas such The parents told three different stories about drugs should be administered slowly over hours. what they were feeding him. At first they said it The boy began crying, went limp, and died after was only soy milk and apple juice. An empty soy cardiac arrest due to hypocalcemia. milk carton in their apartment said that it should not Dr. Mary Brown, Chief of the Lead Poisoning be used as a substitute for infant formula or breast Prevention Branch of the Centers for Disease Con- milk. They had only one bottle for the baby and all trol and Prevention, said that Dr. Kerry should have their cupboards were empty when he died. used calcium-disodium EDTA in the chelation 3.6 pounds, 6 weeks old instead of disodium EDTA. The two are “look- alike/sound-alike” drugs, she said, excusing the Crown was dead when his parents took him to a child’s death as a “medical error.” hospital across the street from their apartment in Quackery opponents are outraged that Brown 2004. At six weeks old he weighed just 3.6 pounds appears to give her blessing to any chelation treat- and was so emaciated that doctors could count his ment for autism. There is no credible scientific or bones through his skin. clinical evidence that chelation cures or alleviates The parents were living in Buckhead, one of the autism, they report. most affluent communities in the nation. They also point out that chelation proponents The parents did not claim to be following any recommend disodium EDTA for treatment of book, leader, or religion in their vegan diet, but in- autism on their webpages. sisted on their personal sincerity. “We’re against Sources include the Somerset Daily American , animal cruelty,” said Lamont Thomas. “So why Aug. 23, 2007; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , Jan. 18, would I be cruel to my son? We’re against animals 2006; Paul Offit, “Thimerosal and vaccines—a being murdered. Why would I be cruel to him and cautionary tale,” New England Journal of Medicine try to do something to his body?” 357 (Sept. 27, 2007): 1278-9; and Their attorney said the apple juice might have www.oracknows.blogspot.com . acted as a diuretic and prevented the baby’s body from absorbing nutrients. Taken in part from the Atlanta Journal- Constitution , May 3, and WSB TV news, May 9. Georgia parents convicted of starving son Idaho suit over baby’s treatment In May, two vegan parents were given manda- tory life sentences in Atlanta for starving their infant goes forward son to death. A Fulton County jury, including four vegetarians, convicted them of malice murder, felo- In February the Idaho Federal District Court ny murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to ruled that parents may proceed to trial on some of children. their complaints about a lumbar puncture and medication given to their baby against their wishes. 7 In 2002 Corissa Mueller of Boise sought a naturopath’s care for her feverish five-week-old daughter, Taige. The naturopath, Dr. Karen Erick- son, had delivered Taige in the Mueller home and provided follow-up care. Taige had not been seen by a medical doctor. Erickson recommended that Mueller take Taige to a hospital as a precaution and explained that phy- sicians there would want to “automatically start her up on an antibiotic regimen and perform a spinal tap” in order to check for meningitis. Mueller did so, and the examining physician, Dr. Richard Macdonald, recommended a full septic workup, including lab tests, a lumbar puncture (spinal tap), and antibiotics to check for meningitis and sepsis. He said babies with Taige’s symptoms “can go from bad to worse very quickly.” Corissa and Taige Mueller Naturopath advises mom in hospital by phone Photo credit: Brad Talbutt, Idaho Statesman Mueller agreed to the lab tests, but, under At one point Macdonald told CPS and police Erickson’s advice via several telephone calls, asked that treatment would have to be started within 45 to wait for the test results before agreeing to drugs minutes to prevent harm from meningitis or sepsis. or the spinal tap. In her deposition, she said that, The police talked with Mueller three times, but based on her “own research,” she thought the she continued to refuse consent because, she said, chance of meningitis was 1% and the dangers of a the risks of treatment outweighed the risks of ill- spinal tap outweighed the benefits. ness. She said that the spinal tap could cause para- When the lab tests came back, they ruled out lysis, brain damage, severe headaches, and infec- ear and urinary tract infections, but not meningitis. tions, even meningitis itself, from the needle Macdonald explained to Mueller that doing a spinal puncturing the spine. tap was the only way to rule out meningitis. Nearly four hours after Taige’s arrival at the In the meantime Taige had been given fluids hospital, the police declared Taige in imminent intravenously and her temperature dropped. Muel- danger. A spinal tap was done and antibiotics and ler then felt the baby was getting better and refused steroids administered over the strenuous objections again to consent to a spinal tap and antibiotics. of the mother. The baby did not have meningitis Mom: standard care dangerous and was not harmed by the spinal tap. Mueller was then allowed to be with the baby Dr. Macdonald then consulted with a board- in the hospital and nurse her. Full custody was re- certified pediatrician, who agreed that for five- turned to the parents at a court hearing the next day. week-old infants with Taige’s symptoms the stan- dard of care was to do a lumbar puncture and Parents file federal suit administer antibiotics and who recommended Corissa and her husband Eric Mueller sued the contacting a social worker if Mueller continued to doctor, hospital, city, and police in federal court, refuse to consent to the spinal tap and antibiotics. claiming their constitutional rights were violated. Macdonald told Mueller she could obtain a The Washington, DC-based Center for Individual second opinion, but she refused, saying she was Rights represents the Muellers. already getting the naturopath’s opinion. Idaho Federal District Judge Lynn Winmill set Child Protection Services and police officers forth the parents’ constitutional rights in the follow- came to the hospital. Dr. Macdonald told an officer ing analysis: that if Taige left without treatment, she could be- come increasingly ill and die before Mrs. Mueller The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth could return to the hospital. Amendment protects the right of parents to 8 make medical decisions for their children. Judge summarizes parents’ constitutional rights Troxel v. Granville , 530 U.S. 57, 66 (2000). Winmill’s ruling had the following summary of This is the “oldest of the fundamental liberty the parents’ constitutional rights: interests recognized by [the Supreme Court].” Id. at 57. At the same time, the State has a par- (1) The officer must determine if there is ens patriae interest in promoting the welfare of reasonable cause to believe that the child is in children and ensuring their physical safety. See imminent danger of serious bodily injury. th Santosky v. Kramer , 455 U.S. 745, 766-67 Wallis v. Spencer , 202 F.3d 1135 (9 Circuit (1982). 1999). The parents’ rights and the State’s duty are (2) In so doing, the officer must consider all not necessarily equal in strength, however. So relevant factors, including the desires of the long as the parents are fit—as is the case here— parents, their fitness, the risks of treatment “there will normally be no reason for the State compared with the risks of forgoing treatment, to inject itself into the private realm of the fam- how soon the harm will occur, whether there is ily to further question the ability of that parent time to contact a judge, and any other factors to make the best decisions concerning the rear- given the circumstances. ing of that parent’s children.” Troxel, 530 U.S. (3) This balancing test may not be ignored at 68; see also Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, simply because a doctor recommends the emer- 602 (1979). (holding that “our constitutional gency treatment. system long ago rejected any notion that a child (3) Both parents are entitled to pre- is the mere creature of the State . ..”). [Note: deprivation notice (that the officer is consider- The Court uses the term “fit” here to mean that ing whether to deprive them of the custody of there is no evidence that the parents are abusive their child without a court hearing) unless there or neglectful in any way, and the sole focus is is some overriding justification for dispensing on their refusal to permit treatment.] with such notice, such as emergency medical More specifically, when fit parents decline time constraints, the unavailability of a parent medical treatment for their minor child, the Due or parents, a reasonable belief that notice may Process Clause clothes them with a presump- pose a danger to the child, or similar reasons. tion that they are acting reasonably. Troxel, 530 (5) If the officer finds the child in imminent U .S. at 68; Parham, 442 U.S. at 602 . If the danger, and turns the child over to the Idaho State wants to compel the minor child to under- Department of Health and Welfare, the State go a medical treatment over the parents’ objec- has authority to consent to only that medical tions, it is the State’s burden to rebut that pre- treatment that is necessary to avoid the immi- sumption at a judicial hearing by showing that nent danger to the child found by the officer. th no reasonable parent would decline the Wallis v. Spencer , 202 F.3d (9 Circuit), 1135. treatment. Id. (8) Both parents are entitled to immediate post-deprivation notice along the same lines as How should risks and benefits be weighed? the requirement for pre-deprivation notice The state may intervene to provide treatment discussed above. when the “risks of forgoing treatment substantially (9) The State must ensure that the duration outweigh the risks of treatment,” but not when “the of the seizure of the child ( i.e., the child’s stay risk of harm is slight” or when “all options pose in the hospital or other medical facility) be risk,” the judge held. strictly limited to accomplish the purposes of “A difficult choice—a choice that poses risks the treatment that formed the basis for the either way—should never trigger intervention by the imminent danger determination, and that the State,” he continued. “With no obvious safe alter- child be returned to the parents immediately native, the State has no parens patriae interest, and upon the cessation of the imminent danger. hence loses all claim to make decisions for the Should steroids have been given? child. It is now the grim duty of the parents to make the call.” Winmill ruled that Child Protective Services violated the Muellers’ constitutional rights by con- 9 senting to steroids and by not returning custody of It should not be hard for the defendants to the baby to the parents as soon as the spinal tap prove that the risk of the baby’s having meningitis results were available and established that the baby was far greater than the risk of harm from a spinal was not seriously ill. He also granted qualified tap. immunity to CPS because those rights were not Was mother negligent? explicit in prior case law. Steroids are commonly given along with anti- CHILD is also concerned about Judge Win- biotics to reduce the risk of inflammation, which mill’s concept of child neglect and parental fitness. may cause hearing loss and other serious injury to a He says of the Muellers, “There is absolutely no child with meningitis, according to CHILD’s medi- evidence of abuse or neglect, and no allegation that cal consultant, Dr. Seth Asser. The judge, however, either parent was in any way unfit.” wrote that the hospital and doctor offered no evi- Withholding needed medical care can, how- dence that they asked the Muellers for permission to ever, be adjudicated as neglect in Idaho (see Idaho give steroids or that steroids contributed to remov- Code 16-1602(25)) and other states. ing the risk to the baby. In 2003 the Muellers testified in the Idaho leg- islature for H240, a bill that would further restrict State can protect child from 5% risk of harm the state’s authority to order medical care for a The parties disagree on whether Dr. Macdonald child. It required a judge to find that the parent’s told the police that Taige had a 5% chance of dying “refusal of treatment is not made on rational consi- or a 5% chance of having a bacterial infection. deration of the risks involved” and that “the refused The Muellers argue that a 5% risk, even of treatment is immediately necessary to save the death, let alone an infection, is “so miniscule ( sic .)” child’s life or to avoid unacceptable risk of compli- that the officer had no right to find the baby in im- cation of the child’s condition” before ordering minent danger. The court disagreed and reiterated medical treatment. that the test was whether the risk of harm without Idaho judges must “consider” spiritual treatment substantially outweighed the risk of treatment for child treatment. The court also, however, allowed the parents to When parents choose “natural or other non- raise at trial the issue of whether Macdonald inten- medical treatment,” the bill required the judge to tionally exaggerated the risks of Taige’s condition take into consideration “the relative risks” of the to get the state to intervene so he could treat her. “treatment proposed by a medical physician” versus Also, the issue of whether the police officer had the risks posed by the parents’ preferred treatment. reasonable cause to believe the baby was in immi- This last was arguably a small concession to nent danger of serious bodily injury is a fact ques- naturopathy, considering that Idaho already requires tion for the jury to decide. If he did not, then he the judge to “consider. . . any treatment being given violated the Muellers’ constitutional rights. the child by prayer through spiritual means alone, if The Muellers said they filed their case in fede- the child or his parent. . . are adherents of a bona ral court “because it’s a national issue.” They called fide religious denomination that relies exclusively the ruling a landmark decision for parents’ rights. on this form of treatment in lieu of medical treat- Winmill’s ruling has some ominous implica- ment.” Idaho Code 16-1627(3) tions for children and medical practice though they Naturopaths now licensed providers may not be insurmountable obstacles at trial. Of greatest concern to CHILD is his finding H240 was defeated, but in 2005 Idaho did that the state cannot intervene to protect the child license naturopathy as requested by the Muellers when “all options pose risk.” Nearly all decisions and the naturopaths. and actions in life pose some risk. His earlier Taken in part from slip copy Mueller ex rel. statement that the risk of harm from forgoing Mueller v. Auker, 2007 WL 627620 (D. Idaho); treatment must “substantially outweigh” the risk of Idaho Statesman , Feb. 25, 2003; and American treatment sets forth a better standard that we hope Medical News , April 9, 2007. the trial court will follow instead. 10 UK judge supports bone marrow benefit and privilege of being a woman which A transplant over religious objections [the girl], by God’s grace, will become, is derived from the ability to bear children,” she wrote. On July 18 a UK judge supported a National “Infertility is incredibly sad. It is something Health Service application to perform a bone that if you can avoid you should avoid,” she said in marrow transplant on a baby against the parents’ court and broke down in tears. wishes. The parents do not reject all medical care on religious grounds. The mother said she believes Disease fatal without transplant “God works through the medical profession.” The 7-month-old girl suffers from hemophago- Miracles irrelevant to judge’s decision cytic lymphohistiocytosis, which attacks vital or- gans. She will die without a bone marrow trans- The judge ruled that faith was irrelevant to the plant, most likely by age one. decision he had to make. “I must decide this case For eight weeks the baby, identified only as A, on the basis of medical knowledge and experience, received painful and damaging medical treatment. the evidence, and reason,” he wrote. “By definition, Since then, she has been at home. She looks and a miracle defies medical science and all known acts normal and happy. experience and reason. Whilst I respect the faith of NHS doctors say, though, that the disease will the parents, I must leave entirely out of account any return and will not be controlled by medication. possibility of a miraculous cure.” His ruling concludes as follows: Risks of bone marrow transplant If a BMT could only prolong by a rela- A bone marrow transplant, doctors testified, has tively short period her life; or if it would leave a 50% likelihood of a permanent cure with a high- her alive but probably seriously impaired (e.g. quality life. There is a 10% risk of death during and significantly brain damaged) then I would or because of the procedure, a 30% probability that the might take a different view. But in my view a body will reject the graft and the patient will even- 50 per cent prospect of a full, normal life (even tually die, and a 10% risk that the patient will have though infertile) when set against the certainty significant neurological damage even though the of death before the age of one or one and a half, transplant is successful. does in this case outweigh all other considera- Transplanting bone marrow requires about two tions and disadvantages. If the opportunity of a months of conditioning and drug therapy. It is a BMT is not taken, a very real prospect of a full very invasive procedure with a very high likelihood life, weighed against certain death, will have of causing infertility. been lost for a few more months of babyhood. Hope for miracle is one reason for refusal A is more than merely a baby. She is a living human being, with a future as well as a present, The parents refused consent for the transplant to whom, despite her disease, modern medicine because of the suffering they had seen their daughter and science may be able to give a full life. In a already go through with medical treatment, because case which includes a strong reference to God they did not believe the transplant would be suc- and religion, I am deeply conscious of my falli- cessful, because they wanted their daughter to enjoy bility. But I am convinced that A should be her present quality of life, and because they hoped given that opportunity. I hope that the parents for a miracle. will feel able to accept my judgment. Whatever The mother testified, “We strongly believe that her future and outcome, A and her family will God has the ability to heal her. We hope fervently remain deeply in my thoughts. that He will do so. Our belief in a miracle gives us the ability to make decisions for her quality of life... Parents respect judge’s ruling, intend to give In the short term she has an excellent quality of life. consent voluntarily The court held that it was “lawful” for the doc- Infertility “incredibly sad” tors to treat the baby “notwithstanding the parents’ The likelihood of infertility was especially refusal to consent.” But the NHS did not petition distressing to the mother. “Part of the expected the court to order the parents to bring her to the 11 hospital for the procedure nor to remove her from No willful neglect; mom’s behavior after baby’s their custody. The parents said they would “most death irrelevant probably” follow the court’s recommendation. Judge N.A. Stewart ruled that the mother’s Source: NHS Hospital Trust v. A [2007] neglect of the child was not “willful” or intentional. EWHC 1696, Family Division, High Court of It may have been only one or two minutes that she Justice case # FD07P01051. left the baby unattended, he said. Medical testimony indicated that a baby could drown within a minute. The judge pointed out that UK charges dismissed in death of “neglect” applies only to failure to care for a living Christian Science toddler person and therefore the mother’s behavior and demeanor after the child died are irrelevant. On February 14 a Guildford Crown Court judge The parents are prominent Christian Scientists. in the United Kingdom dismissed charges of willful The father is an executive with business operations cruelty against a Christian Science mother, 34, in in Africa. Their surviving child attends Claremont Esher, Surrey. The court prohibited the British School for Christian Science children. The Chris- press from publishing her name. tian Science Trust, a registered charity, reported In January, 2006, the mother put her 17-month- income of 4,836,221 pounds sterling in May, 2005. old daughter in a bathtub that had no non-slip mat Sources: The London Times , Feb. 14, 2007; and was half full of water. She left the bathroom to Judge Stewart’s ruling in Regina v. SST in the check phone messages and play music. When she Crown Court of Guildford, Feb. 14, 2007; and returned, the baby was submerged and not online searches. breathing. Mom calls trust officer and spiritual healer On Christian Science “calm” The mother, who is from South Africa, told police she did not know the emergency number to The paramedic who testified in the trial (above) ring for help in the UK. She is the assistant admin- found the Christian Scientists in the little girl’s istrator of the Christian Science Trust in Great Bri- home “unusually calm, almost dismissive” of her tain and called her supervisor, David Pratten, age death. 84. She said she asked him to call for help, but he To the general public, such composure seems testified later that he could not hear anything she strange and perhaps callous. For Christian Scien- said. She tried to give her daughter mouth-to-mouth tists, though, it expresses their conviction that sin, resuscitation. Six minutes after calling Pratten, she disease, and death are unreal because God is good, called a Christian Science practitioner and teacher, omnipotent, the only cause and creator, the only Fenella Bennetts. “Mind,” etc. For them, God does not know about Only after talking to Bennetts did she call 999 sin, disease, and death, and they should not either, (the British equivalent of 911). because God is the divine Mind and gives them all When the paramedics arrived, they found two their thoughts. church members already in the home. They took This theology often requires much tortuous the child to a hospital, where she was pronounced wrestling with one’s “mortal mind” to persuade the dead. Later, testimony indicated that she was likely mortal mind that it and its “suggestions” of sin, dis- dead before her mother took her from the tub. ease, and death are unreal. Nevertheless, serenity is One paramedic told the jury that the “atmos- the ideal. phere [in the home] was unusually calm, almost dismissive of the severity of the situation.” Healed of grief by denying death Nicola Merrick, for the prosecution, also told In a church magazine a woman wrote about the jury that the mother had not been very coopera- losing her first child: “I refused to believe the child tive in answering the paramedics’ questions about had died, and I did not attend the funeral, nor have I the girl. ever been to the grave. Later I was to learn that it 12 was this firm stand and my acknowledgement of was just a little off center and she felt her baby God as Life that resulted in my being healed of any was with her spiritually. grief whatsoever.” ( Christian Science Sentinel , The intern cites the Christian Scientist as one of June 20, 1970, p. 1083) four bizarre cases she saw that week, which made Mom is calm, but baby dies her feel that she had gone down the rabbit hole with Alice-in-Wonderland. See smarkle.blogspot.com. Lest the public assume that such a stand be- longs only to the ancient past, Charlie Bedell in Knighton, Wales, wrote to the London Times in February, 2007, about the paramedic’s observation: What does the church advise in the I also am a Christian Scientist and lost my UK? baby on January 11 th this year at 1 month old. I was advised to be induced on the 8 th December. In the United States the Christian Science My son was not born until the evening of Mon- church fights state-by-state for the right to withhold day 11 th December by emergency section. medical care from children. Its booklets on state Throughout this time I remained very calm, this laws for members have often given misleading was seen by all the medical profession as a plus advice by omitting laws that require medical care of not a negative as indicated by the above article. children and quoting religious exemption laws My being “unusually calm” impressed the mid- without context. wives to the extent that they were looking up In the United Kingdom the church is much Christian Science on the internet and told me more cautious. There the child protection laws are that I had been wonderful to work with, due to national laws, and leading cases established long my composure throughout the 4 days. I under- ago that parents who withheld necessary medical stand from the staff if I had not been so calm care from children on religious grounds could be things could have been different. Throughout convicted of serious crimes. the whole experience they respected my reli- The UK has no religious exemption laws gion which enabled me to stay calm. pertaining to medical care of children. Failure to provide adequate medical aid is defined as child The baby died at one month old, but the Chris- neglect in the Children and Young Persons Act. tian Science mother spends 90% of her letter brag- UK church members should call doctor for kids ging about how calm she was during his birth and how impressed the medical professionals were with In 1960 the Christian Science lobbyist and her faith. public relations manager for London told the press, “We advise Christian Scientists to call in a doctor CS mom refuses to have labor induced for their children whenever any reasonable careful A U.S. medical student doing her ob/gyn rota- parent who is not a Christian Scientist would do tions recently gave another example of Christian so.” ( London Observer , March 20, 1960) Science serenity in her blog: This is exactly what the church should tell its 37 year old 3 weeks post-partum. She is a chris- members everywhere in our view, but the church tian scientist who doesn’t believe in modern has never given comparable advice anywhere in the medicine. She ended up going into labor at 42 United States to our knowledge. weeks after refusing to be induced. She deli- Even in Britain, however, the church’s advice vered a beautifully healthy baby despite there has a misleading element. Commendably, the 1980 being no heart beat. the only thing that killed edition of the church booklet, Legal Rights and this baby is that it wasn’t delivered on time. Obligations of Christian Scientists in the United While talking to her, she told me that her baby Kingdom , tells members that the Act “has the effect was doing well, and that she has even started of imposing an obligation on Christian Scientist walking. At this time i thought i was talking to parents or guardians to call in a doctor to attend a the wrong patient because i knew that her baby child or young person under 16 years of age in cases had died. Nope i had the correct patient, she where, in similar circumstances, a careful and re- 13 sponsible parent who is not a Christian Scientist year-old boss at the Christian Science Trust, but he would do so.” could not hear her. Such are the disadvantages of pretending that disease is unreal until a crisis “Normally” parent can wait to call a doctor arrives. However, the church goes on to say: Although a serious accident or sudden se- vere illness would necessitate the immediate No charges in Christian Science calling of a doctor to attend a child in obedi- child’s death to diabetes ence to this law, a decision in the majority of

other cases does not have to be made in a hurry, No charges will be filed in the 2003 death of a and there is normally sufficient opportunity for Christian Science child due to untreated diabetes. a healing to be brought about quickly through For years Norfolk District Attorney William Christian Science treatment. Keating in Massachusetts said the case was still Normally, the church is saying, you should hire being reviewed. He pointed out that there was no a Christian Science practitioner to treat the child statute of limitations for homicide charges. Whe- with prayer and normally the child will be healed ther he considered lesser charges is not known. before you have to obey the law and call a doctor. Eben Tryon, 7, complained of stomach pains Danger in waiting for Christian Science healing and went home from school early on a Friday. On Sunday morning at about 4 a.m., his parents, Mari- One danger is that the Christian Science lyn and Bruce Tryon, rushed him to the hospital, method of treatment requires convincing yourself where he was pronounced dead shortly after his that the disease is unreal. It requires denying that arrival. alarming symptoms are present and even that you The cause of death was found to be diabetes. can be aware of them. The Christian Science The Tryons told authorities their son had not been parents who are trying so ardently to get their child diagnosed with diabetes, and they thought his illness healed with affirmation of God and denial of dis- was just flu. Though practicing Christian Scientists, ease may not know when they should give up on they said they would seek medical care in “cases of spiritual treatment and get medical care. extreme illness.” Theology discourages planning Mom is Christian Science nurse Most UK parents register their child with a Marilyn Tryon works as a Christian Science particular physician so they will have easy and “nurse” at the church nursing home, Chestnut Hill. quick access to medical advice and care. But Bruce reportedly works at church headquarters as a Christian Science theology holds that disease is security guard. caused by sin, which includes fear and doubt. It claims that knowledge of disease causes disease. It As in a more recent UK case (see “UK charges discourages contingency planning. Christian Sci- dismissed” above), the parents’ employment may ence teacher Herbert Rieke even told his students have influenced their behavior during their chil- not to buy life insurance or make wills because dren’s healthcare crises. doing so was an admission of mortality. Many prohibitions for church nurses The church’s 1980 advice booklet points out In particular, Mrs. Tryon’s work as a church that British law does not require parents to register nurse created special obligations. Insulating these their children with a physician. nurses from charges of unlicensed medical practice When the Christian Science mother (see “UK is extremely important to the church. They have charges dismissed” above) found her daughter sub- been told not to report suspected communicable merged in the bathtub, she did not know what to do. disease because doing so could be construed as Though she had lived in the UK for years, she did medical practice. The church forbids the nurses to not know the emergency number to call. She did give “any physical application beyond the normal not have a physician with whom she had established measures of cleanliness.” They cannot use a fever a trusting relationship. She turned instead to her 84- 14 pression of Life itself, can restore the dying and dead to life, as Jesus and his disciples proved. And this is entirely realistic today for spiritual healers following Jesus’ example and adhering to the laws of God, just as Jesus did 2,000 years ago.” Meek Christian Scientists raise dead today Church director Tom Black wrote in his article, “Raise the Dead,” that “in spite of almost universal doubt, the dead are being raised today through prayer alone.” He gave two examples of Christian Chestnut Hill Scientists raising the dead and said such healings “are as natural as birds singing.” thermometer or take a pulse to assess illness He also said they must be “childlike, innocent, “materially.” The church used to have a first-aid humble, and meek” in order to do it. course in its nurses’ training program, but later Gradually all humanity will become aware that cancelled it. “death is not inevitable, terminal, or even actual,” Nurses must not give first aid in public but “an illusion,” he said. A former Christian Science nurse told CHILD We can only speculate on the timing. It seems that she once saw a patron choking on food while to us that the church was trying to saddle the mem- she was eating at a Midwest restaurant. She went to bers with an impossible mission in order to distract him and performed the Heimlich maneuver, which them from a Christian Science failure in England. stopped his choking. The next day she got a phone Charismatic woman leads church again call from the Christian Science Mother Church in In 1990 Virginia Harris was elected to the Boston warning her never to do that again in public. board of directors of the Mother Church in Boston. The Mother Church put out a statement on The five people on the board elect their own suc- Eben’s death reading in part, “While our knowledge cesssors, have no term limits, and govern the church of events is limited, we can say this Church remains throughout the world. committed to the very best health care available for Harris entered when the membership was in children.” CHILD rejects that as semantic subter- turmoil over criminal prosecutions of Christian fuge. Church periodicals often say that their spiri- Science parents and the board’s expenditure of tual treatments are the best health care for children. nearly half a billion dollars on a failed television Sources include The Boston Globe , Nov. 19, channel. 2003, and two church publications: Legal Rights Harris soon became chairman of the board. She and Obligations of Christian Scientists in Minne- was a dynamic, strong, almost charismatic figure in sota , 1976 edition: 14, and “Facts about Christian an uncharismatic church with a demoralized mem- Science,” 1959 edition: 9. bership. She appeared twice on Larry King Live .

She lectured at Harvard Medical School’s “Spiri- tuality and Healing in Medicine” conferences orga- On raising the dead and the strange nized by Dr. Herbert Benson, thus enabling mem- era of Virginia Harris bers to say she was on the Harvard Medical School faculty and medicine was moving in their direction. In January, 2007, just before a Christian Sci- Harris tried to make Christian Science broadly ence mother went on trial in England for child neg- palatable as another entree in a New Age smorgas- lect, The Christian Science Journal encouraged bord. A Boston Globe article called it spirituality church members to trust Christian Science to raise without a denomination. Harris told the press that the dead. Tony Lobl, the church’s lobbying and everyone should study Christian Science because it public relations manager for Greater London, wrote would make one a better Catholic, Jew, or Protes- in an editorial, “The immortal Christ, the very ex- tant. As author Caroline Fraser said, Harris “bril- liantly married healing-through-prayer to the trendy 15 diction of popular alternative therapies while sup- Talbot enjoined that members have to “admit pressing the most radical element of Christian that it’s realistic” for them to be able to raise the Science: its rejection of medicine.” dead and “then we will do it.” Another board member, Victor Westberg, who Non-denominational self-help book was a church lobbying and public relations manager The church advertised its sacred text, Science in California when three Christian Science children and Health with Key to the Scriptures, as a self-help died of untreated meningitis there, assured members book without mentioning the religion. Members that “healing is as possible [today] as it was in the were told not to refer to the book as their “denomi- ‘old days.’” national textbook.” The church’s periodicals were A few months later CHILD’s medical consul- splashed with color photos of the authors and bio- tant, Dr. Seth Asser, hosted an internet radio pro- graphical sketches to turn them into regular modern gram interviewing Christian Science spokesman folks. They carried articles about other faiths and Brian Talcott, another of the church’s lobbying and encouraged Christian Scientists to join interfaith public relations managers for California. organizations. Seth read from the church directors’ statements Under Harris’s leadership, the church soft- about raising the dead and asked if he believed it pedaled its theological rejection of medical care. was possible. Writers began to mention in the church periodicals Talcott said it was and some of his own rela- that they had obtained medical care beyond that tives had raised the dead. traditionally allowed by the theology. “How about Mary Baker Eddy?,” Seth asked. Fraser predicted that Harris’ makeover would Talcott said Eddy had raised the dead several fail. “For a group of that size to alienate some of times. [its] core membership in an unproven attempt to reach out to people who know nothing about the Why church doesn’t raise Eddy from dead tradition indicates how really desperate they are,” “No, I was asking about raising Mary Baker she told The Boston Globe in 2003. Eddy from the dead,” Seth said. Harris led the building of a $50 million project Talcott sounded very flustered. The purpose of called the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Better- Christian Science is not to prolong life, but to de- ment of Humanity. Despite massive favorable stroy death, and Mary Baker Eddy has gone on to publicity, the visitors to the library soon dwindled. another plane of existence, “so we wouldn’t try to Furthermore, many church members were bring her back,” he finally replied. uncomfortable with the repackaging of their religion In February, 2006, the Mother Church’s second as psychobabble. They complained that it was reader, Suzanne Cowin, died. being blended into popular culture and losing its On June 5, 2006, the Mother Church’s incom- identity. ing president, David Reed, died during the annual meeting. With thousands of members present in the Old hardliners return auditorium and with a camera webcasting the meet- In December, 2004, Virginia Harris suddenly ing to the membership worldwide, the outgoing left the board. Old hardliners Tom Black and Na- president introduced Reed and others. Reed did not than Talbot were brought back to Boston and put on appear, but she continued conducting the meeting the board. The new board announced that hence- entitled “A Church of Healers,” with no mention of forth the chairmanship would be rotated annually. what had happened to him. Raising dead sets church apart from others According to the police report, Reed went into cardiac arrest at 1:13, but no-one called for medical At the church’s next general membership help until 1:33. meeting in June, 2005, there was a strong emphasis By 1:35 an ambulance and fire truck were at the that Christian Science was indeed a very distinctive church of healers, but Reed was dead. theology. Board member Mary Trammell told the We’ve been told that the introduction of Reed audience that they should be able to raise the dead. was deleted from the church’s online webcast a few Black added, “What would set us apart as a days later. denomination more than the raising of the dead?” 16 We outsiders can only hope that the ascendancy Law enforcement in adjacent Texas counties of church hardliners will not lead many to practice had sharply different views of abuses at a boot “radical reliance” on Christian Science when chil- camp. One said “the big question” was whether the dren are seriously ill or injured. force used on a 15-year-old girl “exceeded the force Sources include Caroline Fraser, God’s Perfect permitted by the parents,” who had signed a consent Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science form allowing corporal punishment. The district Church (NY: Holt, 2000):409; Naomi Schaefer, attorney in the next county said, “Parents can’t “Spiritual but not religious? On a church-sponsored agree to have their child assaulted or injured,” and website, Christian Science goes New Age,” Boston filed charges. Globe , Oct. 5, 2003; and “Annual Meeting 2005,” In a third Texas case an unlicensed folk-healer Christian Science Journal (Sept. 2005):39. was sentenced to only three years’ probation for giving a child drugs and doing surgery on her. There were no charges filed when a Chris- tian Science child died of diabetes in Massachusetts. Swan publishes in encyclopedia Indeed, there was almost no publicity given to any of the four deaths of Christian Science children CHILD President Rita Swan has two articles in reported in this issue. the Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence (NY: The one we picked up in the blogosphere raises Routledge, 2007): “Religious attitudes toward the thorny question of what a doctor should do with corporal punishment,” 205-208, and “Medical a non-cooperative patient. The only leverage the neglect related to religion and culture,” 475-83. doctor had was to refuse to deliver the baby on the Christian Scientist’s terms. The dangers to autistic children are also high- Late news: polygamy leader lighted here. Some parents are persuaded that an convicted as accomplice to rape autistic child’s irrational outbursts are evidence of demon-possession and turn to terrifying and abusive rituals to cast out demons. On September 26 Warren Jeffs, authoritarian Many other parents believe that mercury in leader of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of vaccines causes autism and get chelation treatment Latter-Day Saints was convicted as an accomplice for their child to remove heavy metals from his to rape in St. George, Utah. system. The Salt Lake City Tribune has riveting articles Our belief systems about children need always about this case and the FLDS at www.sltrib.com . to be tested by the laws of science and of love.

Last impressions by Rita About CHILD Inc.

The articles in this and the subsequent issue CHILD is a national membership organization show extreme disparities in how society regards dedicated to the welfare of children, particularly children. In Georgia parents were sentenced to life when religious beliefs or cultural traditions lead to in prison for letting their baby starve to death. In child abuse and neglect. CHILD provides research, Texas no charges were filed when a malnourished public education, and amicus briefs. CHILD baby died. A pathologist in private practice re- lobbies for equal protection of children within its viewed the Texas baby’s autopsy report and called tax-exempt limits. CHILD is a member of the the death a “homicide” while the pathologist who National Child Abuse Coalition. did the autopsy called it “natural or accidental” and For more information on CHILD and a mem- the district attorney said the parents might not be bership application form, visit our web page at held responsible if they were directed by church www.childrenshealthcare.org. Contact information authorities. for CHILD is on page 1 of this newsletter.