European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Children die by David Margolick new York times d avid and Ginger Twitchell a Christian science couple from Massachusetts who relied on prayer rather than on doctors As their Young son Lay dying from an obstructed Bowel were convicted of involuntary manslaughter last. Month. It was a stunning verdict coming As it did in the very Shadow of the a Mother Church Quot in Boston. But the death of 2-year old Robyn Twitchell and the conviction that followed was Only the latest of a series of successful prosecutions against Christian science parents whose children have died agonizing deaths after spiritual a Healing failed. In fact while the tenets of the Church particularly its absolute Reliance on prayer in lieu of Standard medical treatment remain fundamentally unchanged since Mary Baker Eddy founded it in Boston in 1879, they have come under intense attack in courtrooms and state last 15 months Christian science parents have Boon convicted of either involuntary manslaughter felony child abuse or child endangerment in iwo California cities As Well As in Florida and Arizona. I other prosecutions in Santa Monica calif., and Minneapolis have been dismissed although prosecutors in Minnesota have appealed Quot the message has been sent every Parent a of whatever religious belief or persuasion a is obligated to include medical care in taking care of his or her child Quot said John Kiernan the prosecutor in the Twitchell Case. Rila Swan of Sioux City Iowa a former Christian Scie Lisl Lias led the Campaign for such prosecutions after becoming convinced her Reliance on spiritual Healing was largely responsible or the death of her own infant son Quot i m sure the Church has never faced a Challenge like this in its history Quot she said. Quot the Church has been so sophisticated and so smooth that coroners and prosecutors and social workers have just assumed that Christian a scientists have the right to do Christian scientists counter that by seeking to smother a key Tenet of their Faith Law enforcement officials Are infringing on their religious liberties. Nathan Talbot chairman of the Church s committee on publications said Quot they Are trying to prosecute out of existence this method of the chief lawyer for the Church Theodore e Dinsmoor of Gaston amp Snow in Boston has called the Twitchell Case Quot nothing Short of a Gross intrusion on the first amendment Quot and Quot an unmitigated attempt to undermine the Christian science Way of life Quot defense lawyers appealing the convictions also argue that since most states specifically exempt those who roly on prayer from charges of child abuse or neglect a exemptions written into tie Law at the Behest of the Chust Tan science chinch a the Pio solutions Are inherently unfair. A to circumvent those statutes prosecutors have generally chosen to charge the parents either with manslaughter or Onda Gormont where no such exemption applies the american Academy of paediatrics is leading a Campaign to overturn these exemptions now in effect in More than 40 states. But Only in South Dakota has it succeeded. The principle impediment say is the considerable lobbying Power of the Christian science Church. The Church says it has 500,000 members in the United states its critics Call that an exaggeration in any Case the churches Power lies not in numbers but in influence. Its members Are largely Middle and upper class people who participate fully and successfully in american society. They include luminaries such As William h. Webster and Stansfield Turner present and former directors of the Cia rep. Christopher Shays a Conn. Judge Thomas p. Griesa of the . District court for the Southern District of new York and actresses Jean Stapleton and Carol Channing. Or. Norman c. Post of Madison wis., who recently retired As head of the Academy s committee on bioethics said Quot we re interested not just in kids who die. What we re concerned about Are the hundreds and hundreds More who suffer from inadequate medical . Prosecutors who say they were initially sympathetic to the Christian science Legal position later reconsidered. Quot the first Bell that went off in my head was religious Freedom,1 Quot said , Scull who handled the prosecution of John and Katherine King of Phoenix ariz., for the death of their 12-year-old daughter Elizabeth. Quot but then i got to thinking wait a minute. You can to let kids die. Your right to practice religion is absolutely Quot the Church has been so sophisticated and so smooth that coroners and prosecutors and social workers have just assumed that Christian scientists have the right to do this Quot a Rita Swan former Christian scientist subservient to your child s right to live Quot. These prosecutors nonetheless say they sympathize with the parents on the one hand it s hard for me to understand How someone could sit by and watch his child die without doing everything to attempt to save his child including prayer Quot said John o Mara of Sacramento the prosecutor in one of the California cases. Quot on the other hand these people Are Nice Middle class and Well intentioned they re not drug crazed psychotics like an awful lot of the people i see Quot spiritual Healing lies at the theological heart of Christian science Church doctrine holds that All physical ailments Are rooted in fear alienation from god and other mental factors and that real Healing is brought about by a spiritual breakthrough that takes place through prayer study and introspection usually with the assistance of the Church s Quot practitioners Quot those members considered expert in helping patients Gope with what they consider the mental roots of their disease. Various testimonies by Church members appearing in Christian science literature Over recent years attest to its Efficacy in curing arthritis gallstones asthma appendicitis Gaiter polio pneumonia cancer epilepsy multiple sclerosis cataracts glaucoma diabetes mental retardation venereal disease and other diseases that Medicine considers congenital incurable or terminal. The Campaign against spiritual Healing has been fuelled by growing concern Over child abuse and recognition of children s rights. It has also been propelled a at times almost single hand edly a by Rita Swan. Swan resorted to spiritual Healing when her 2-year old son Matthew became Iii in november 1976. Christian science practitioners blamed the boy s illness and his failure to improve on Swan s decision to have surgery a Tew months earlier to remove a cyst a which had failed to respond to Faith Healing a As Well As on a feud she was having with her father. The boy died of meningitis in july 1977. Within Days Swan broke with the Church and in 1983 she founded child an acronym for children a healthcare is a Legal duty. Acting As Quot friends of the court Quot in various cases the Christian science Church has spent lavishly on Legal fees hiring lawyers from some of the most respected firms in the country. It has also mounted costly advertising campaigns including Ful Page newspaper advertisements asserting it is being Quot persecuted for . Although parents of other religious denominations including the Church of the first bom the Faith Assembly and he True followers it Christ have gone to jail for failing to provide their sick children with medical care no Christian scientist has thus far. Instead like or and mrs. Twitchell they have received a a combination of probation Community service and fines. They have also pledged to provide medical care for their surviving children. Whether these sentences Are just is a matter of debate. Quot i did t want to Soo the Kings go to prison Quot Scull said of the defendants in the Arizona Case. Quot these people absolutely loved that girl and they absolutely believed in their religious teachings. What s the Point of taking a childless couple who Are outstanding citizens in every other Way and putting them in prison Quot to flu Swan however the More lenient treatment is a function of How much political influence Christian scientists have. A i it s the Power prestige and respectability of the Christian science Church and the Money they have to. Swan said. Quot otherwise i Don t see any difference. Dead is the Christian science prosecutions Are United by common horrific facts. Elizabeth King a 12 year old in Phoenix developed a error near her knee in the fail of 1987. Her parents called a a Christian science practitioner a the time local authorities Learned other condition the is or had ballooned one nurse compared it in size to two Quot he icons she died four weeks later her parents pc red no contest to a charge of reckless endangerment a e Middleton Rippberger of Santa. Rosa cakf., 8 re r a it exhibited influenza like symptoms on nov. 25 a Doc. 2. She was warm to the touch and her eyes 5&s was booting were constantly crossed by dec. 6, she was suffering continuous convulsions. On dec 9, she died of meningitis. Her parents were convicted of felony child endangerment the Case is on Appeal. Amy Hermanson 7, of Sarasota fla., became ill sept. 22, 1986. A week later after her parents had returned from a Christian science conference on Healing in India Zapolis her condition had. Worsened. The next Day. An abuse hearing was hastily scheduled for that afternoon. Amy who remained at Home died during the hearing of diabetes. Her parents William and Christine Hermanson were convicted of manslaughter their conviction is being appealed. In late april 1989. Ian Lundman 11, of Independence minn., developed a fever and began losing weight. By May 8, he had grown incoherent and incontinent frequently gritting his Teeth and suffering facial spasms. On May 9 he died of diabetes. His Mother and Stepfather Wiiliam and Kathleen Mckown were charged with manslaughter. A judge dismissed the charges that Case is under Appeal. The Appeal is supported by Douglas Lundman the boy s natural father who left the Christian science Faith Quot my son s life should have been protected by the const tuition of the United states and the Minnesota state Constitution and i would Hope that those instruments Are. Upheld Quot to said As for Robyn Twil Cheli tie began crying then screaming and vomiting after a Light supper on the evening of april 3, 1986. Despite heme visits from a practitioner who prayed for him and Sang a hymn. Is symptoms persisted or in Christian science parlance Quot by april 8, he was having spasms his eyes rolled up and he lost consciousness thai night he died of what doctors diagnosed As a correctable Bowel obstruction. Shauntay Walker a 4 year old in Sacramento Calif developed a fever feb. 21, 1984. Within four Days she was vomiting and had a stiff neck when her aunt visited her on the afternoon of March 8. Shauntay was unresponsive and staring into space the1 next morning she died of. Meningitis charges of involuntary manslaughter and felony child endangerment were brought against Shauntay s Mother Laurie. She appealed and the Case reached the California supreme court in a 1988 ruling the fullest judicial examination of the subject to Date the court upheld the prosecution in its opinion the court noted with disparagement a 1874 Case raised by mrs. Walker which dismissed. Manslaughter charges against a Parol who had relied solely upon prayer for the treatment of her child Quot instead of calling in a doctor to apply blisters leeches and Calomel Quot a Quot were blisters leeches and Calomel he medical a alternatives to prayer today Quot the court hold such a de Crisc would Quot More Lully resonate Quot but it continued Quot medical science has advanced dramatically and we May fairly presume that the Community Standard for criminal negligence Lias changed accordingly Quot the Christian science prosecutions like Many historic constitutional cases represent a clash of apparent absolutes of religious Liberty and parental autonomy on the one hand and the fight of the states to protect children a and the rights of the children themselves a on the other it also highlights the inherent tension Between first amendment guarantees that government cannot my Iii the free exercise of religion on the one hand but on the other cannot be seen As giving preferential treatment to any particular religious group prosecutors argue that courts have Long Omax jeered Stales to regulate religious conduct As opposed to religious beliefs. They cite cases upholding Laws Gamst polygamy As Well As court ordered transfusions and vaccinations. Quot parents May be ire to become martyrs of themselves but it do snot follow they Are free to make martyrs of their children Quot the supreme court Field in Prince is Massachusetts a 1923 ruling involving a Jehovah s witness prosecuted for violating child labor Laws by having her 9 year old daughter peddle religious tracts the Christian scientists conversely invoke Wisconsin is. Yoder a 1972 decision that Field that the arms had the right to keep their children Oul of Public schools the first amendment the court held protected nut just religious beliefs but Quot a Way of life Quot a far from discouraging Christian scientists from practising their Faith the prosecutions were generating renewed interest from outsiders Talbot said Quot we Are having dozens and dozens and dozens of examples of people Corning to our churches arid Reading rooms who have heard about the Twitchell Case and Are asking if Christian science can heal them Quot Fie said Quot something is happening Here and its riot the prosecutors intended Quot Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes Monda August a Fermi Ateima 390 the stars and stripes a a a Page 1 5
