Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty explained

Children's Healthcare
Is a Legal Duty
Abbreviation:CHILD
Formation:1983 to 2017
Type:501(c)(3)
Location:Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Focus:Child neglect
Field:Child welfare
Key People:Rita Swan, President

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD) was from 1983 to 2017 an American nonprofit membership organization that worked to stop child abuse and neglect based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and quackery. CHILD opposed religious exemptions from child health and safety laws. These exemptions have been used as a defense in criminal cases when parents have withheld lifesaving medical care on religious grounds. These exemptions also have discouraged reporting and investigation of religion-based medical neglect of children and spawned many outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and deaths.[1] CHILD publicized the ideological abuse and neglect of children, lobbied for equal protection laws for children, and filed lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs in related cases.

CHILD was founded in 1983 by Rita and Douglas Swan after the death of their son, Matthew. When Matthew developed a high fever in 1977, several Christian Science practitioners, who claimed they were healing Matthew, persuaded the Swans not to seek medical treatment for him. After he had been ill for 12 days, the Swans did take Matthew to the hospital, but his illness had progressed too far and he died of bacterial meningitis.

According to the National Association of Counsel for Children, which gave an award to Rita Swan for her efforts, "Due in large part to CHILD's efforts, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Dakota, Hawaii, and Oregon have removed laws which provided exemptions from prosecution to parents who fail to provide medical care for their sick children based on religion".[2] [3]

History

Rita and Douglas Swan founded CHILD as a legacy to their son, Matthew. In 1977 he became ill with bacterial meningitis. The Swans, Christian Scientists at the time, were persuaded by Christian Scientist practitioners – the religion's name for its spiritual healers – not to seek medical treatment for their son. When one of the practitioners said Matthew might have a broken bone, which Christian Scientists are allowed to go to a doctor for, the Swans took their baby to a hospital after he had been ill for 12 days, but his illness had progressed too far, and he died.[4] Motivated by this tragedy, CHILD works to eliminate religious exemptions in child health and safety laws. Parents belonging to various religions, in particular Christian Science, have used these exemptions as legal defenses in criminal cases for failing to provide medical care for children who then died.

Following the death of their son, the Swans left the Christian Science Church, and in 1983, Rita Swan founded the nonprofit organization, Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty (CHILD), and has worked "relentlessly" to publicize cases of religion-related child abuse and neglect. In 1998, Rita Swan and Seth Asser published a benchmark study in Pediatrics that analyzed 140 child deaths in which medical treatment was withheld. This study showed that 90% of these children would have survived with routine medical care.[5] [6]

In 1996, Congress added to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act a provision that nothing in the act can "be construed as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide any medical service or treatment that is against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian".[7] CHILD has opposed this provision on several fronts. CHILD's work has led to the repeal of some or all religious exemptions to child neglect laws in Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Dakota, Hawaii, Oregon, Minnesota, Ohio, and Rhode Island.[8] In 2009, CHILD lobbied successfully to remove provisions from the federal Affordable Care Act that would have provided government funding and mandated insurance coverage for faith healing that did not also include medical care.[9] [10]

Mission and activities

CHILD'S mission was to end child abuse and religious-based medical neglect, cultural practices, or pseudoscience through public education, research, and a limited amount of lobbying to support laws that protect children against maltreatment. The organization also filed lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs in related court cases.

CHILD supported:

Successor

CHILD is no longer an active tax-exempt charity. There is, however, a new successor non-profit organization called CHILD USA operating out of the University of Pennsylvania.  It was formed with the original CHILD's encouragement and support and is dedicated to ending child abuse and neglect through evidence-based research resulting in enlightened law and public policy.[11] [12]

Legal actions

The Swans filed a wrongful death suit against the Christian Science Church in 1980, but it was dismissed on First Amendment grounds, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their case on appeal.[13] In 2000, CHILD sued the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc. v. Min De Parle), over federal healthcare monies being directed to Christian Science facilities and others that provide no medical treatment. The suit, alleging a violation of the establishment clause, was dismissed with summary judgment; on appeal, the judgment was upheld, and the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.[14] [15]

Other legal cases include CHILD Inc. and Brown v. Deters challenging Ohio's religious defense to child endangerment and manslaughter (ORC 2919.22a) and CHILD Inc. v. Vladeck against the federal government's use of medicare and medicaid funds for Christian Science nursing.[16] [17]

Testimony before legislatures

Publications

Recognition

2 May 1991 Human Rights Service Award.

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Man speaks out about child deaths in NW faith-healing church . Dan (KATU News) . Tilkin . Mike (KBOI News, Idaho) . Murad . TV news broadcast . KATU . Fisher Communications, Inc. . Portland, OR . 20 May 2011 . 30 April 2013.
  2. Children's Law News. The Guardian. 2001. 23. 3. 15. National Association of Counsel for Children . 4 April 2013.
  3. News: Munns. Roger. Mom fights prayer that excludes medicine. 22 April 2013. Los Angeles Times. 2 June 1996.
  4. Fraser, 1999, pp. 278–291.
  5. Asser. S.M.. Swan, R.. 169037. Child fatalities from religion-motivated medical neglect. . April 1998. 101. 4 Pt 1. 625–9. 9521945. American Academy of Pediatrics. 0031-4005. 10.1542/peds.101.4.625.
  6. Gallegos. Alicia. Miracle vs. medicine: When faith puts care at risk. American Medical News. 19 September 2011. 17 April 2013. . 0098-7484.
  7. Title 42-The Public Health And Welfare, Chapter 67-Child Abuse Prevention And Treatment And Adoption Reform, Subchapter I-General Program, Sec. 5106i-Rule Of Construction
  8. Web site: Policy & Legal . CHILD website. CHILD. 30 April 2013.
  9. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
  10. Web site: Victory! Christian Science provision not in merged health care reform bill. . 20 November 2009 . . News Release . Faith-healing mandate nixed from Senate health care reform bill . cs2.
  11. Web site: CHILD USA . April 29, 2023 . CHILD USA We envision a world where children are safe and happy.
  12. Web site: Swan . Rita . Children's Health Care is a Legal Right . April 29, 2023.
  13. Brown v. Laitner, 435 N.W.2d 1, 432 Mich. 861 (1989).
  14. https://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/212/212.F3d.1084.98-3521.html CHILD Inc. v. Min De Parle
  15. Harris. B.. Veiled in textual neutrality: Is that enough? A candid reexamination of the constitutionality of section 4454 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Alabama Law Review. 2010. 61. 2. 401–402. 4 April 2013.
  16. https://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/92/92.F3d.1412.95-3850.html CHILD Inc. and Brown v. Deters
  17. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7014481299021843487&hl=en&as_sdt=2,10&as_vis=1 CHILD Inc. v. Vladeck
  18. Oregon Senate Committee on the Judiciary Minutes 26 April 2011. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2013
  19. Oregon House Committee on the Judiciary Minutes 21 February 2011. 2. Retrieved 18 April 2013
  20. Nebraska State Legislature, Health and Human Services Committee 25 January 2007 transcript. 11-13. Retrieved 18 April 2013
  21. Web site: Minutes 13 February 1998, Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Legislative Research Council, South Dakota Legislature. Retrieved 22 April 2013
  22. Web site: Minutes 6 February 1998, House Health and Human Services Committee. Legislative Research Council, South Dakota Legislature. Retrieved 22 April 2013
  23. News: 2010 Social action award recipients. 17 April 2013. Social Questions Bulletin. Iowa Chapter Methodist Federation for Social Action. 3. June 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110125005604/http://www.mfsaiowa.org/2010-AC-SQB.pdf. 25 January 2011. dead.
  24. Web site: The Giraffe Heroes Database: Swan, Rita. The Giraffe Heroes Project. 17 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140226170756/http://www.giraffe.org/index.php?sobi2Search=Search+...+&field_lastname=Swan%2C+Rita&field_workfield=0&field_loc=0&field_gender=0&field_age=all&field_occupation=0&search=Search&searchphrase=any&option=com_sobi2&sobiCid=0&sobi2Task=search&reset=2&Itemid=91. 26 February 2014. dead.

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