Should these parents who believed in faith healing have been acquitted of manslaughter when their daughter died?
I don’t know how the prosecution lost this case. There is no question in my mind that, beliefs not withstanding, the absence of medical treatment precipitated the death of the teenager. This family is entitled to their beliefs. But, they are as guilty as any other parent who chooses to parent in ways that place children at unnecessary risk. This court result is truly upsetting to me and establishes a precedent for what I consider the abuse of children. Having said this without personally knowing the family, the 2 parents have suffered deeply by losing their loved daughter. The child was not “killed” by means of premeditated hostile action. The child was killed because the parents’ beliefs were such that they placed their daughter in harm’s way by not removing an easily curable disease. I do not think that sentencing them to years in prison would accomplish anything. But, by acquitting them, other families with similar beliefs may be enticed to let religious beliefs justify risky parent
