Is Our Society's Strict Adherence to Religious Freedoms Costing the Lives of Innocent Children?

Is our society’s strict adherence to religious freedoms costing the lives of innocent children? The Christian Science Church rely on the Establishment Clause and The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment as granting themselves and their children exemption from medical intervention. But because of their insistence in relying solely on prayer for the healing their sick children, approximately one child a month in the U.S. is known to die from an illness that would have been curable had they had medical attention. 1 Religious liberties of parents might protect their beliefs, but it should not protect their conduct of denying the rights of a child to his or her life. Section 1. of the 14th Amendment states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. The Religious liberties of Christian Science parents deprive their children of life by denying them the equality of the opportunity for medical attention.
American Civil Liberties Union made the following statement regarding state religious exemption laws: “Children have rights too, and parents have certain rights which end when they intrude too far into a child's right to live...the parent's right to bring up the child in the way the parent thinks best-an important right...ends at the point at which the parents' actions endanger the lives of kids...there cannot be in our view a religious exemption no matter how sincere a parent's belief...2 The state has a right to ensure the 14th Amendment rights of Christian Science children. It saw no conflict in reauthorizing the 1974 Federal Child Abuse Prevention Treatment Act in the Keeping Children Safe Act of 2003. Certainly neglecting to get one’s child life saving medical care falls into this category

Bibliography: * Asser, S.M., and R. Swan. "Child fatalities from religion-motivated medical neglect." Pediatrics 101, no. 4 (1998): 625-629. * Bell, Bonnie. "Their Baby’s Death Provokes Doug and Rita Swan to a Holy War on Christian Science." People, March 31, 1980. * Eddy, Mary B. Glover. Science and Health, Cambridge: University Press John Wilson and Son, 1881. * Hebenstreit, Jean. "Christian Science and the Redeemable Future." Christian Lectures.http://www.cslectures.org/Hebenstreit/CS%20and%20the%20Redeemable%20Future-Hebenstreit.htm Date Accessed: May 28, 2012. * Hoekaem, Anthony A. The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1963. 183-184. * Laws.com. "An Overview of the 14th Amendment." What is the 14th Amendment? http://constitution.laws.com/14th-amendment Date Accessed: May 28, 2012. Peters, Shawn. "Pointless and Preventable." In When Prayer Fails: Faith healing, Children, and the Law. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1991. 18-20. Robinson, B.A. "Parents withholding medical treatment from their children; legal exemptions." Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/medical1.htm Date Accessed: May 28, 2012. 2 Tabachnick, Joan. "Religious Exemption Laws Lead to Cruel Deaths, Mislead Parents." Death By Neglect http://www.masskids.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=172&Itemid=209 Date Accessed May 28, 2012. 8 Swan, Rita. "Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty." Equal rights for children under the law. www.childrenshealthcare.org Date Accessed: May 28, 2012. 9 Nashville, Tenn. Holy Bible, red-letter edition: Holman Christian Standard Bible.. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2004. 11 Eddy, Mary B. Glover. Science and Health, Cambridge: University Press John Wilson and Son, 1881. 13 Hebenstreit, Jean. "Christian Science and the Redeemable Future." Christian Lectures.http://www.cslectures.org/Hebenstreit/CS%20and%20the%20Redeemable%20Future-Hebenstreit.htm Date Accessed: May 28, 2012. 14 Peters, Shawn. "Pointless and Preventable." In When Prayer Fails: Faith healing, Children, and the Law. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1991. 18-20. 15 Moore, R.J.. "Church vs. State and Life vs. Death:" Traditional Christian Science Healing in the Modern Context” 4, no. 1 (1991): 73-79.