Ten to two. That was the vote that sent down the guilty verdict from the jury who had the gut wrenching job of deciding the fate of Jeff and Marci Beagley, the couple charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 16-year-old son.
The Beagleys are followers of the Christ Church in Oregon City and do not believe in modern medicine. Instead, they pray for healing, and as a result, their son died of a complication to a urinary tract infection in June of 2008.
Jail is becoming second nature to this family, whose daughter faced similar charges in the death of their 15-month-old child. She was cleared of all charges, but her husband was found guilty and was sentenced to two months in jail and 5 years of probation.
A simple catheter could have saved their son’s life. What do you think? Should faith-healing be allowed in the case of a minor child?
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Comments
I do not belong to that religion; nor could I let my sick child go without care. However, this is a religious issue and the government has no business legislating against religious beliefs. Our country was founded by those escaping religious persecution. Who are we to judge the faith of these people. Now everyone in that faith is technically being religously persecuted. Truth is you can get an infection from a catheter and you could die from it. What a tradgedy for these parents who lost their son.
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