A bill that would make faith-based healing a criminal offense in Idaho has been drafted and is awaiting consideration for a committee hearing.
Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, drafted legislation that would remove the exemption from prosecution for parents who don’t seek medical attention for their children due to conflicting religious or spiritual practices. Statutes currently only allow such an exemption for children, which Gannon calls “discriminatory.”
“To say it’s alright to allow children to die from a lack of medical attention by relying on faith healing, but adults must have medical attention is unconscionable,” he said in a press release.
The Spokesman-Review reported Donahue said in the March 2017 hearing, “In my county alone, I’ve had three deaths in the last four months. … My hands are tied as a law enforcement officer.”
The bill considered last session would have made parents who practiced faith-healing on children who died or suffered permanent injury due to lack of treatment subject to civil liability. It was rejected by the Senate in an 11-24 vote.
Read the full story at the Idaho Press-Tribune
