LawHealth LawHealth PolicyChild WelfareChildren's RightsPublic Health LawChild MaltreatmentChild NeglectChild Protection LawChild Welfare LawChildhood NeglectParental RightsChild Neglect PolicyMedical Decision-making For MinorsNormative Reasons
When parents seek to direct their children's lives in ways otherwise prohibited by law, they are necessarily asking the State to make a decision about their children's lives. They are asking the State to change the rules for them, to give them greater power over children than other parents possess. There may be good reasons for doing so in some cases, but they must be reasons the State can endorse, from its perspective. This article explains why, from the State's perspective, there is no good reason to include spiritual treatment exemptions in medical neglect laws and there are strong reasons, grounded in the welfare and rights of children, not to include such exemptions.