HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD) was from 1983 to 2017 an American nonprofit membership organization that worked to stop
child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
and
neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness and ...
based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and
quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...
. CHILD opposed religious exemptions from child
health and safety law Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...
s. These exemptions have been used as a defense in criminal cases when parents have withheld lifesaving medical care on religious grounds. These exemptions also have discouraged reporting and investigation of religion-based medical neglect of children and spawned many outbreaks of
vaccine-preventable diseases A vaccine-preventable disease is an infectious disease for which an effective preventive vaccine exists. If a person acquires a vaccine-preventable disease and dies from it, the death is considered a vaccine-preventable death. The most common and ...
and deaths. CHILD publicized the ideological abuse and neglect of children, lobbied for equal protection laws for children, and filed lawsuits and
amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...
briefs in related cases. CHILD was founded in 1983 by Rita and Douglas Swan after the death of their son, Matthew. When Matthew developed a high fever in 1977, several Christian Science practitioners, who claimed they were healing Matthew, persuaded the Swans not to seek medical treatment for him. After he had been ill for 12 days, the Swans did take Matthew to the hospital, but his illness had progressed too far and he died of bacterial
meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...
. According to the National Association of Counsel for Children, which gave an award to Rita Swan for her efforts, "Due in large part to CHILD's efforts, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Dakota, Hawaii, and Oregon have removed laws which provided exemptions from prosecution to parents who fail to provide medical care for their sick children based on religion".


History

Rita and Douglas Swan founded CHILD as a tribute to their son, Matthew. In 1977 he became ill with
bacterial meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasionall ...
. The Swans,
Christian Scientists A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...
at the time, were persuaded by Christian Scientist practitioners – the religion's name for its spiritual healers – not to seek medical treatment for their son. When one of the practitioners said Matthew might have a broken bone, which
Christian Scientist Activists, politicians, and military figures Activists *Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (1882-1985) – Native American singer and activist * Bonnie Carroll – President and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) *Henry ...
s are allowed to go to a doctor for, the Swans took their baby to a hospital after he had been ill for 12 days, but his illness had progressed too far and he died.Fraser, 1999, pp. 278–291. Motivated by this tragedy, CHILD worked to eliminate religious exemptions in child health and safety laws. Parents belonging to various religions, in particular Christian Science, have used these exemptions as legal defenses in criminal cases for failing to provide medical care for children who then died. Following the death of their son, the Swans left the Christian Science Church, and in 1983, Rita Swan founded the nonprofit organization, Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty (CHILD), and has worked "relentlessly" to publicize cases of religion-related child abuse and neglect. In 1998, Rita Swan and Seth Asser published a benchmark study in ''
Pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...
'' that analyzed 140 child deaths in which medical treatment was withheld. This study showed that 90% of these children would have survived with routine medical care. In 1996, Congress added to the
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 93–247) of 1988 provides financial assistance for demonstration programs for the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect and to establish a National Center o ...
a provision that nothing in the act can "be construed as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide any medical service or treatment that is against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian". CHILD has opposed this provision on several fronts. CHILD's work has led to the repeal of some or all religious exemptions to child neglect laws in Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Dakota, Hawaii, Oregon, Minnesota, Ohio, and Rhode Island. In 2009, CHILD lobbied successfully to remove provisions from the federal
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
that would have provided government funding and mandated insurance coverage for faith healing that did not also include medical care.


Mission and activities

CHILD'S mission was to end child abuse and religious-based medical neglect, cultural practices, or
pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...
through public education, research, and a limited amount of
lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...
to support laws that protect children against maltreatment. The organization also filed lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs in related court cases. CHILD supported: *Laws requiring medical care of children, including preventive and diagnostic measures, without exception for religious belief *Reporting of child abuse and child neglect without religious exemption *Licensing of child care facility, including those run by churches *Ratification of the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (commonly abbreviated as the CRC or UNCRC) is an international international human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of ch ...


Successor

CHILD is no longer an active tax-exempt charity. There is, however, a new successor non-profit organization called CHILD USA operating out of the University of Pennsylvania. It was formed with the original CHILD's encouragement and support and is dedicated to ending child abuse and neglect through evidence-based research resulting in enlightened law and public policy.


Legal actions

The Swans filed a wrongful death suit against the Christian Science Church in 1980, but it was dismissed on
First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
grounds, and the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
declined to hear their case on appeal. In 2000, CHILD sued the director of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer ...
and the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Im ...
(''Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc. v. Min De Parle''), over federal healthcare monies being directed to Christian Science facilities and others that provide no medical treatment. The suit, alleging a violation of the
establishment clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The ''Establishment Clause'' an ...
, was dismissed after the district court granted summary judgment for the defendant; a federal appeals court affirmed the ruling and the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. Other legal cases include ''CHILD Inc. and Brown v. Deters'' challenging Ohio's religious defense to child endangerment and manslaughter (ORC 2919.22a) and ''CHILD Inc. v. Vladeck,'' challenging the federal government's use of Medicare and Medicaid funds for Christian Science nursing.


Testimony before legislatures

*Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee, 26 April 2011 *Oregon House Judiciary Committee, 21 February 2011 *Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Children and Families, 17 March 2010 *Nebraska State Legislature, Health and Human Services Committee, 25 January 2007 *Iowa House Education Subcommittee, January 2006 *Maine Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services, May 2005 *Nebraska State Legislature, Education Committee, February 2005 *Rhode Island House Health, Education, and Welfare Committee, February 2004 *Missouri House Judiciary Committee, April 2003 *Colorado Senate Health, Environment, Children, and Families Committee, April 2001 *Maryland House Judiciary Committee, March 2001 *Colorado House Criminal Justice Committee, February 2001 *Oregon House Criminal Law Committee, March 1999 *South Dakota House and Senate Health and Human Services Committees, February 1998 *Michigan House Judiciary Committee, February 1997 *U. S. Senate Labor and Human Resources staff briefing, June 1995 *Minnesota House Judiciary Committee, March 1994 *Minnesota House Judiciary Committee, December 1991 *Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee, March 1991 *South Dakota House State Affairs Committee, January 1990 *California Assembly Committee on Public Safety, October 1989 *Ohio House Children and Youth Committee, March 1989 *Ohio House Children and Youth Subcommittee, March 1985 *North Dakota House of Representatives, January 1979


Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Recognition

*
American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States. It is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and maintains an office in Washington, D.C. The AAP has published hundreds of poli ...
(AAP): 2012 President's Certificate for Outstanding Service awarded to Rita Swan, MA, PhD for efforts in children's rights to medical care and decades of work with the AAP on these issues. *Iowa Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action: 6 June 2010 Outstanding Social Justice Work Award. *
Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is an American collegiate honor society that recognizes leadership and scholarship. It was founded in 1914, at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and has chartered more t ...
chapter at Morningside College: 27 April 2003 Honoris Causa Award. *National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC): 2001 Outstanding Legal Advocacy Award received by Rita Swan, MA, PhD for working to protect children from religious-based medical neglect through policy advocacy and amicus curiae work. *Oregon Pediatric Society: 17 June 2000 Child Advocacy Service Award. *Oregon Peace Officers Association Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Investigators: 2 November 1999 Award for Child Advocacy. *The Giraffe Heroes Project: 12 January 1993 Award for Risk-Taking and Service. * Sioux City Human Rights Commission: 2 May 1991 Human Rights Service Award. *South Dakota Chapter of the AAP: 14 September 1990 Child Advocacy Service Award.


References


Further reading

* * * * *


External links

*
National Association of Counsel for ChildrenSan Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment
{{Christian Science Christian Science Lobbying organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1983 Non-profit organizations based in Lexington, Kentucky 1983 establishments in Kentucky