The first meeting of the Children at Risk-Faith Healing Working Group interim committee Thursday in Boise was marked by persuasive and emotional arguments both for and against Idaho's faith-healing exemption.

The exemption protects parents from charges of neglect if they refuse medical treatment for their children for religious reasons.

According to the state Child Fatality Review Team, a small number of Idaho children with treatable conditions such as diabetes or pneumonia die or suffer preventable disabilities each year because their parents practice faith healing, rather than pursue standard medical treatment.

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter asked the Legislature to create an interim committee to examine the issue in greater detail and determine if the religious exemption needs to be modified. Any recommendations will be addressed during the 2017 legislative session.

"To me, the issue is really about balancing interests - those of the state and those of the parents," said Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, who is co-chairman of the working group.

Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Jean Fisher, speaking on behalf of the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association, asked that the exemption be removed from state law.

"This is about the rights of children," she said. "If the state is going to protect its most vulnerable citizens, then why allow this exception, knowing that these children are suffering needlessly?"

When the state receives a complaint regarding child abuse or neglect, it's investigated by local law enforcement and the Department of Health and Welfare. If there's evidence of medical neglect and it's an imminent threat, the state can step in and order treatment - unless the parents claim the religious exemption.

The exemption "basically says if you're praying to resolve this medical issue, the department can't say you're neglectful for not seeking medical treatment," said Deputy Attorney General Mary Jo Beig. "It would have to look for a separate reason to bring that child into state care."

The Idaho Child Protective Act does allow a judge to order emergency medical treatment, Beig said, but only if a doctor says the child's life is endangered and the parents refuse treatment.

That statute only comes into play, though, if a physician is aware of the situation.

"It would require a third party to call, say the child needs treatment and get the court to order it," she said.

Idaho has a felony child neglect law as well, but Fisher said it's rarely, if ever used in faith-healing cases.

"In my experience, they aren't getting charged," she said. "If a family really practices this faith, then regardless of the fact that they're watching their 8-year-old fight for breath every day and they see that prayer isn't working, I don't think you could prosecute them because the exemption is built into the law. If we didn't have the exemption, then juries might look at it very differently and say that's just not reasonable."

Dan Sevy, a member of the Followers of Christ and a faith-healing practitioner, said the freedom to make decisions about your own health care and about how to raise your children is fundamental.

"We believe in freedom of health care," he said. "Not free health care, but freedom of choice. There is no greater intrusion (by the state) than into your faith, your body or your family."

No parent wants to see their child suffer, Sevy said, but modern medicine isn't a guaranteed cure. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year through medical error.

"When you disagree with the choices someone makes, you may think they're stupid or uneducated or ignorant," he said. "But that man might have a wisdom you can't equate with, and he might have a different goal in mind. Our goal is eternity, not suffering. We disagree with medicine; we feel it puts our eternal life in jeopardy. Blessings to you if you feel it works."

Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, who previously served on the Latah County multidisciplinary team that reviews child protective cases, is also a member of the working group. He said his focus will be on how best to serve the children of the state.

"As policymakers, I believe we have an obligation to do that," he said.

The working group plans to hold additional meetings this summer and fall, including at least one that will allow for public comment.

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.