| Description |
1 online resource (x, 262 pages) |
| Contents |
"Pointless and preventable" : an overview of religion-based medical neglect of children -- "Are any among you sick?" : the tradition of spiritual healing --- "Defended by the Lord Jehovah" : the peculiar people in the British courts -- "The horriblest thing I ever saw" : early religion-based medical-neglect cases in the United States -- "Does the science kill a patient here and there?" Christian Science, healing, and the law -- "The pain has no right to exist" : contemporary Christian Scientists in the courts -- "Nightmare would not be too strong a term" : life and death in the Faith Tabernacle -- "This ain't religion" : spiritual healing and reproductive rights -- "God can't cure everyone" : spiritual healing on trial in Oregon -- "We need to change the statute" : the promise (and limits) of statutory reform |
| Summary |
Relying on religious traditions that are as old as their faith itself, many devout Christians turn to prayer rather than medicine when their children fall victim to illness or injury. Faith healers claim that their practices are effective in restoring health ---- more effective, they say, than modern medicine. But, over the past century, hundreds of children have died after being denied the basic medical treatments furnished by physicians because of their parents' intense religious beliefs. The tragic deaths of these youngsters have received intense scrutiny from both the news media and public authorities seeking to protect the health and welfare of children."When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law", is the first book to fully examine the complex web of legal and ethical questions that arise when criminal prosecutions are mounted against parents whose children die as a result of the phenomenon known by experts as religion-based medical neglect. Do constitutional protections for religious liberty shield parents who fail to provide adequate medical treatment for their sick children? Are parents likewise shielded by state child-neglect faith laws that seem to include exemptions for healing practices? What purpose do prosecutions really serve when it's clear that many deeply religious parents harbor no fear of temporal punishment? Peters offers a review of important legal cases in both England and America from the 19th century to the present day. He devotes special attention to cases involving Christian Science, the source of many religion-based medical neglect deaths, but also considers cases arising from the refusal of Jehovah's witnesses to allow blood transfusions or inoculations. Individual cases dating back to the mid-19th century illuminate not only the legal issues at stake but also the profound human drama of religion-based medical neglect of children. Based on a wide array of primary and secondary source materials ---- among them judicial opinions, trial transcripts, police and medical examiner reports, news accounts, personal interviews, and scholarly studies --- this book explores efforts by the legal system to balance judicial protections for the religious liberty of faith-healers against the state's obligation to safeguard the rights of children |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-254) and index |
| Notes |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
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digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Child health services -- Law and legislation -- United States
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Spiritual healing -- Law and legislation -- United States
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Freedom of religion -- United States
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LAW -- Constitutional.
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LAW -- Public.
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Child health services -- Law and legislation
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Freedom of religion
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Spiritual healing -- Law and legislation
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United States
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780198041825 |
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0198041829 |
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9781281159069 |
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1281159069 |
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9780199867714 |
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0199867712 |
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