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DEATH OF WESTON GIRL MAY GO UNPROSECUTED
Thursday, March 27th, 2008 -- 9:10 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
Police in Weston say an 11-year-old girl succumb to diabetic complications Sunday because her parents chose prayer over medical treatment.
An author and UW-Madison scholar says it would be hard to prosecute the parents in such a case.
He says Wisconsin law does protect a parent's right to choose faith-healing over medicine.
"There is a caveat there that refers to this kind of religious-based treatment of illness," explains UW-Madison scholar Shawn Peters, who studied the subject extensively for his book, "When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law."
"That often complicates prosecutions of parents."
There are several similar cases reported each year nationwide, Peters says.
He says one reason is the feeling that the parents did not intend harm to their children, and that they've already suffered enough. Peters says the law has gray areas, and this case may stir up debate about changing the statute.
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