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Alleged prayer killer gets dose of irony
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Yesterday, the case against the mother of poor Madeline Neumann finally got underway, but only 20 minutes in and they had to recess because mom of the year Leilani Neumann required medical care. Let that sink in for a moment. The woman who is charged with killing her daughter because she decided to pray for her instead of getting her medical care, needed medical care in court and got it.
How nice, huh?
I've been waiting for this case for some time. I think this could really make shock waves across the nation as there are several states which have laws comparable to Wisconsin's concerning rejecting medical care on religious grounds. I have no problem with adults making such a choice about their own lives, but that kind of reckless decision can't be made by a minor nor for a minor.
In Minnesota, the law is somewhat different, requiring parents to provide children with "medically necessary care", which is why a judge has ordered an x-ray of Danny Hauser's chest to assess the need for further care to address his lymphoma. At least Danny's parents aren't completely nuts, since they do recognize some need for doctors, which is how his condition became known to the court as concerned doctors reported the situation to child protective services. Also, thankfully, his mother has admitted she'd reconsider chemo if Danny's condition worsened. Unfortunately for Madeline, no medical professional was aware of her condition, and under no circumstances were her parents going to give up on prayer.
Across the nation we're seeing the effects of going with prayer. Abstinence only sex ed, essentially shutting your eyes and praying kids won't explore their sexuality, has resulted in skyrocketing teen pregnancies and STDs. Fearful parents using religious exemptions to get out of vaccinating their kids, resulting in a return of such things as polio as well as making their little unvaccinated snowflakes into little Typhoid Marys, endangering both toddlers too young to be vaccinated yet as well as seniors. (There was a recent Law & Order episode on this)
So I think it's long past the time we drew a line in the sand. People's prayer claims can be humored when it concerns finding lost keys or even if someone wants to endanger themselves and themselves only, but when it comes to endangering others, especially those in need of protection like children or elderly seniors, that prayer nonsense won't be tolerated as a substitute for real solutions. Feel free to say a prayer as the needle goes in, though. Knock yourselves out.
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