Charging the parent is a start but that does not get at the root of the problem and is not enough of a deterrent to prevent re-occurrence. The main culprits are those religious leaders who preach these practices. They should be charged as accessories to these crimes. It is high time that “freedom of religion” as interpreted by some courts, not to include the “freedom” to advocate what amounts to criminal behavior in our society.
In another post “Main Skeptic” wrote: Some religions can be completely corrupt, and even deadly, and the government won't hold them accountable. The IRS even had a policy, up until recently, that it wouldn't investigate complaints about churches. The Ninth District court decided a couple of years ago that human trafficking by the Church of Scientology was a protected sacrament”. Imagine that in some future case that Sharia Law was argued to be also a “protected sacrament” in the case of stoning to death an unfaithful woman.
We must try to persuade our judicial system to pass laws that make it illegal to advocate practices that endanger one’s health and can lead to severe consequences, including death. This would discourage religious leaders and politicians to advocating practices such as prayers, withholding blood transfusions, and even alternative unproven medicines. Faith Healers should also be prevented from practicing unless they can pass a rigorous neutral examination of their “powers” by documenting the medical condition of a person before and after the “cure” for a suitable length for time to check the effectiveness of their “treatment”. Psychics should similarly be tested before being licensed to practice and if not licensed should be charged to prevent exploiting the gullible.
To get back to the death of children because of the withholding proper medical procedures that could have prevented such tragedies, we must start to demand that anyone, including politicians, who advocate these practices are criminally charged as accessories. We MUST especially save the lives of the children where the decision is made by their caregivers.