{"product_id":"when-prayer-fails-faith-healing-children-and-the-law","title":"When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing  Children  and the Law","description":"\u003cp\u003eRelying on religious traditions that are as old as their faith itself  many devout Christians turn to prayer rather than medicine when their children fall victim to illness or injury. Faith healers claim that their practices are effective in restoring health - more effective  they say  than modern medicine. But  over the past century  hundreds of children have died after being denied the basic medical treatments furnished by physicians because of their parents intense religious beliefs. The tragic deaths of these youngsters have received intense scrutiny from both the news media and public authorities seeking to protect the health and welfare of children.  When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing  Children  and the Law is the first book to fully examine the complex web of legal and ethical questions that arise when criminal prosecutions are mounted against parents whose children die as a result of the phenomenon known by experts as religion-based medical neglect. Do constitutional protections for religious liberty shield parents who fail to provide adequate medical treatment for their sick children? Are parents likewise shielded by state child-neglect faith laws that seem to include exemptions for healing practices? What purpose do prosecutions really serve when its clear that many deeply religious parents harbor no fear of temporal punishment? Peters offers a review of important legal cases in both England and America from the 19th century to the present day. He devotes special attention to cases involving Christian Science  the source of many religion-based medical neglect deaths  but also considers cases arising from the refusal of Jehovahs witnesses to allow blood transfusions or inoculations. Individual cases dating back to the mid-19th century illuminate not only the legal issues at stake but also the profound human drama of religion-based medical neglect of children.  Based on a wide array of primary and secondary source materials - among them judicial opinions  trial transcripts  police and medical examiner reports  news accounts  personal interviews  and scholarly studies - this book explores efforts by the legal system to balance judicial protections for the religious liberty of faith-healers against the states obligation to safeguard the rights of children.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44959947325493,"sku":"ByrdShop_019530635X","price":35.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195306354.jpg?v=1770380445","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/when-prayer-fails-faith-healing-children-and-the-law","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}