like I said before....there are a lot of religions and atheists that use only alternative meds. isn't that interfering? at what point should the government take over?

I do understand when the welfare of a minor is at stake....but I don't have an answer

wow my typing is off today lol

And that's why it's sticky question. Kids have died over such decisions made by parents, when there was time courts have stepped in and ordered treatment. Which is right? ... thinking off the top of my head and I'm sure there are plenty of issues I'm not considering but I think our judicial system really lacks proper consideration for a juveniles opinion in self determination. When it's a matter of life and death I think there definitely needs to be a few more right granted.

true...just like pumping kids with medcines for everything and unnecessary surgeries treatments etc. i do think it goes both ways....so again...dunno

if there is a consistent policy of following the said religious belief the govt has no rights to intervene

and it is up to the govt to prove the inconsistent behavior not the parent to prove they lived it

I agree. For me when it's treated like a black and white issue, it reduces our children to the status of property. It's an incredibly complex question in my view.

Land of the free...hmm!

There are only two entities responsible for a child be brought into the world.
God and the birth parents.
No one else has a right to determine the culture and beliefs that child is raised in.
The child is a child. They have no legal opinion until they are growed.

So if a parent decides the best way to treat an illness based on their religeon is to drill a hole in his/her head you're ok with that?

modern medicene are the drill the hole in the head promoters

don't you watch house

unless they can prove the parents are not living the religious believes they claim to follow the govt has no right to step in

that is against the freedom of religion

shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

So, it's between the parents and God eh? Guess you are all pro-choice then right? Glad to hear you admit it.

Here is where I see a distinction just to be clear. This is a human being, independent, intelligent, fully functioning, with a mind and personality, and truly has a right to life.

Here is a related story.

Tell me...you ridiculous Bible thumpers and indignant boobs who assert that the courts protecting the lives of children is wrong when you see crap like this.

These parents had not taken her child to a doctor since she was three years old? She prayed? This child is dead because of neglect,myth based voodoo and deliberate ignorance. Explain to me why the actions or more accurately the lack of action of her parents okay? Because they claim their religion or God made them do it?

Funny when this murdering, ignorant, superstitious woman gets ill she gets a doctor.

DA: Girl Whose Parents Prayed to Defeat Illness Suffered 'Needless' Death

WAUSAU, Wis. — A Weston woman, accused of praying instead of seeking medical attention for her dying daughter, suffered a medical emergency as her homicide trial got under way but appeared OK about 30 minutes later.

Her case is believed to be the first of its kind in Wisconsin involving faith healing in which someone died and another person was charged with a homicide.

Prosecutors had begun laying out their case against Leilani Neumann, 41, on Saturday morning. About 20 minutes in to their opening statement, as they described the girl's condition the day before she died, Neumann put her head in her arms on the table.

Moments later her attorneys expressed concern, asking for a recess so they could get her some air. She appeared visibly weak as her husband and others escorted her from the courtroom to a downstairs office.

Judge Vincent Howard ordered court security to call 911 and have Neumann medically evaluated.

While she was being examined by paramedics in the office, her defense attorney, Gene Linehan, told the judge Neumann was suffering a total physical and emotional breakdown.

"She claimed she has no feeling in her arms and legs," Linehan said, telling the judge Neumann could not participate in her defense in her current state.

The judge agreed to a recess, saying Neumann "needs a medical evaluation, not a judicial one, at least at this stage."

About 30 minutes later Neumann was brought back to the courtroom in a wheelchair. Her attorney indicated she was going to be OK.

The judge was expected to question her to see whether she'd be fit to continue.

Neumann is charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the Easter 2008 death of her 11-year-old daughter Madeline from undiagnosed diabetes. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Neumann has said her family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, and she never expected her daughter to die.

According to the criminal complaint, Madeline's father considered the girl's illness "a test of faith" and Neumann never considered taking the girl to the doctor because she thought her daughter was under a "spiritual attack."
Related Stories

The family does not belong to an organized religion or faith, Neumann has said.

During opening statements, Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson told the jury this case isn't about religious freedom or religious rights.

"This case is about Madeline Neumann's needless suffering and death," he said.

Jacobson recounted a chronology of events leading up to Madeline's death and got as far as the night before the girl — called Kara by her parents— died.

"Kara was left to lay on a couch overnight in a coma and nothing was done," he said.

It was about that point that Neumann started putting her head down. Jacobson continued, describing how Madeline was lying on the floor, neither talking nor eating.

By nightfall on the eve of her death, Madeline was "completely helpless" and Neumann commented to a friend, "she sensed the spirit or Angel of Death present at her home," Jacobson said.

Moments later the defense raised its concerns about Neumann's health.

An autopsy has determined that Madeline died from diabetes that left her with too little insulin in her body. The girl likely had some symptoms of the disease for several weeks and months, court records said.

The girl was finally taken to a hospital after other family members, including one in California, called 911 to seek emergency help but it was too late.

The parents told investigators Madeline had not been to a doctor since she was 3.

Linehan has said Neumann, a 41-year-old mother of three other children, is expected to testify in her own defense.

Her husband, Dale Neumann, is also charged with second-degree reckless homicide. His trial starts July 23.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520393,00.html

Lynann...you religion bashing is getting old.

as far as the stories....guess what...many religions believe in alternative medicine including athiests...not just your hated Christianity. and only some follow only alternative meds.

One more time..I don't hate Christians or Christianity.

I have deep respect for many of those people.

I am keenly aware not all Christians are not like this woman.

I do not have any respect for people like the woman in this story who clearly neglected her child and who is now trying to avoid responsibility for the death of her child citing religious freedom.

I think this woman gives all people of faith a very bad name.

I posted this article because it absolutely relates to the op.

How many people who supported the parents of that boy also support this woman?

She killed her child through neglect.

"""those people"""

in the OP....the alternative medicine came from their belief in Native Americans. maybe we should blame the Native Americans for that????

Any parent who neglects a child's health, when medical intervention could save that child, and embraces voodoo of any type resulting in that child's death..even if the allege they are doing it for religious reasons is a murderer.

I don't care what religion the parents embrace. I don't care if they worship flying spaghetti monsters, cows, trees, crosses, circles, whales, icebergs, dog, aliens...whiskey tango foxtrot ever.

If an aetheist neglects to take her child to a doctor for five years while the kid slowly dies of a chronic but treatable disorder she is a murderer too.

All I am saying here is that people who do this should not be able tolegally justify their neglect behind the guse of religion. It gives all people of faith a bad name.

Oh and as for me saying "those people" their isn't enough space on this or any forum for me to name people of faith I know personally who I deeply respect.

Before you jump on me for using the phrase "those people" perhaps you should examine the context it was used in. Those people whom I respect, who are extraordinary, wonderful and intelligent people of faith are again...simply to numerous to be named in this post.

Try actually reading please instead of picking out phases to throw stones at me...oh and remember please that little saw about people who live in glass houses.

the constitution say differently sorry

using your post logic abortion would also be illegal

-----------------------

and as for the those people remark

excuse me but i remember the

""those people""

and how it was said during the 60's (and still on occasion today)

and it was not a good thing

how about just saying certain (insert religious belief). but when almost every thread and post drips with distain and insults...kinda hard not to get tired of it.

but in this case...it's the belief of the Native Americans that they are following.

No using your logic abortion would be legal.

After all you assert it's between the parents and God right?

There is a key difference here. In the case of abortion that collection of cells is not yet a thinking, independent function human being...it cannot live and thrive independently. A child living outside the womb is.

But...I do see some consistency in that side of the argument...better to give birth to them then inadequately educate, cloth and feed them, better to withhold medical treatment and let them die...after all...we can always use more ignorant workers, cannon fodder and poster children to religious freedom.

again...d@mn those Native Americans