Post by pavel on Mar 13, 2016 5:15:05 GMT -6
State may remove ‘spiritual treatment’ shield to child abuse law
NASHVILLE — Tennessee lawmakers are moving to repeal a controversial 1994 law that was at the center of a long court fight over the 2002 death of a Loudon County child whose mother refused medical care in favor of "spiritual treatment" and prayer.
Without debate, the Senate last week approved 32-0 a bill by Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, a cardiac surgeon, to repeal the "spiritual treatment" exemption to the state's child abuse and neglect statute. The House Criminal Justice Committee is scheduled to consider the bill Wednesday. It's sponsored in the House by Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville, a lawyer, and won easy approval last week in the criminal justice subcommittee.
The provision was intended to provide a shield from prosecution for child abuse or neglect if "the child is being provided treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone, in accordance with the tenets or practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner of the recognized church or religious denomination, in lieu of medical or surgical treatment."
The exemption was included in a 1994 revision of Tennessee's 1989 child abuse and neglect law that, ironically, increased the penalty for abuse and neglect from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony. The 1994 discussion in the state Senate indicated the exemption was added at the request of the Church of Christian Science and approved with no debate.
Read more: www.commercialappeal.com/news/government/state/state-may-remove-spiritual-treatment-shield-to-child-abuse-law-2dcd0e88-33f4-749f-e053-0100007f5a90-371844621.html
NASHVILLE — Tennessee lawmakers are moving to repeal a controversial 1994 law that was at the center of a long court fight over the 2002 death of a Loudon County child whose mother refused medical care in favor of "spiritual treatment" and prayer.
Without debate, the Senate last week approved 32-0 a bill by Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, a cardiac surgeon, to repeal the "spiritual treatment" exemption to the state's child abuse and neglect statute. The House Criminal Justice Committee is scheduled to consider the bill Wednesday. It's sponsored in the House by Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville, a lawyer, and won easy approval last week in the criminal justice subcommittee.
The provision was intended to provide a shield from prosecution for child abuse or neglect if "the child is being provided treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone, in accordance with the tenets or practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner of the recognized church or religious denomination, in lieu of medical or surgical treatment."
The exemption was included in a 1994 revision of Tennessee's 1989 child abuse and neglect law that, ironically, increased the penalty for abuse and neglect from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony. The 1994 discussion in the state Senate indicated the exemption was added at the request of the Church of Christian Science and approved with no debate.
Read more: www.commercialappeal.com/news/government/state/state-may-remove-spiritual-treatment-shield-to-child-abuse-law-2dcd0e88-33f4-749f-e053-0100007f5a90-371844621.html