Faith Healing Vilified in Wake of Colorado Teen-ager's Death

0 Comments | Insight on the News, May 21, 2001 | by Valerie Richardson

The painful death of a diabetic girl in Colorado has reionited the debate about religious freedom and child neglect. The state Legislature is considering a bill that would make it easier to prosecute parents who deliberately withhold medical treatment in favor of prayer or faith healing.

The measure comes in the wake of an uproar surrounding 13-year-old Amanda Bates, who died Feb. 6 of complications from juvenile diabetes. Her parents, Randy and Colleen Bates, who belong to the General Assembly Church of the First Born in Grand Junction, Colo., refused to seek a doctor's care, citing their belief in the power of prayer to heal.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Kay Alexander, argues that a repeal is needed to protect children from the current law, which says no child who receives prayer as a "recognized method of religious healing" is considered neglected. "The bill does not disregard the right to pray for healing or religious freedom," says Alexander, a Republican. "It does stop faith-based medical neglect."

But Christian Scientists -- who have emerged as the bill's leading opponents even though Amanda was not a member of their church -- argue that the proposal would have a chilling effect on their freedom to worship. "If this passed, then I would lose some of the protection I had," says Christian Scientist Marian English, who raised her three now-adult children without the aid of doctors. "I would be afraid to practice my religion."

Christian Scientists have defeated two previous attempts in the last 12 years to strike the religious exemption, but overcoming the public outrage over Amanda's death promises to be their most difficult hurdle yet.