Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD)

Abbreviation	CHILD
Formation	1983
Type	501(c)3
Focus	Child neglect
Location	Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Key people	Rita Swan, president; Ken Stringer, board chairman
Website	childrenshealthcare.org

Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD) is an American non-profit membership organization that works to stop child abuse and neglect based on religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and quackery. CHILD opposes religious exemptions from child health and safety laws. 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 disease.^[1][2] CHILD publicizes the ideological abuse and neglect of children, lobbies for equal protection laws for children, and files lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs in related cases.

CHILD was founded in 1983 by Rita and Douglas Swan after the death of their son, Matthew. The Swans were persuaded not to seek medical treatment for him by Christian Science practitioners, who claimed they were healing him. When the practitioner said Matthew might have a broken bone and that Christian Scientists were allowed to go to a doctor for setting broken bones, the Swans took their baby to a hospital, but it was too late to save him.^[3]

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."^[4][5][6]

Mission

The mission of Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty is to end child abuse or neglect related to religion, cultural practices, or quackery through public education, research, and a limited amount of lobbying.^[7]

CHILD supports

• Laws requiring medical care of children, including preventive and diagnostic measures, without exception for religious belief
• Reporting of child abuse and neglect without religious exemption
• Licensing of child care facilities, including those run by churches
• Ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child^[7]

History

Rita and Douglas Swan founded CHILD as a legacy to their son, Matthew.^[8] In 1977 he became ill with bacterial meningitis. The Swans, Christian Scientists 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. The Swans did take Matthew to the hospital after he had been ill for 12 days, but his illness had progressed too far, and he died.^[9] Motivated by this tragedy, CHILD works 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.^[10]

The Swans left the Christian Science Church,^[3] and CHILD and Rita Swan have worked "relentlessly" to publicize cases of religion-related child abuse and neglect.^[11] In 1998, Seth Asser and Rita Swan published a benchmark study in Pediatrics analyzing 140 child deaths in which medical treatment was withheld. This study showed that 90% of these children would have survived with routine medical care.^[12][13]

In 1996 Congress added to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 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."^[14] 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.^[5][15] In 2009 CHILD lobbied successfully to remove provisions from the federal Affordable Care Act that would have provided government funding and mandated insurance company payment for faith healing that includes no medical care.^[16][17]

Recognition

• American Academy of Pediatrics (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.^[18]
• Iowa Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action: 6 June 2010 Outstanding Social Justice Work Award.^[19]
• Omicron Delta Kappa 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.^[5]
• 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.^[20]
• Sioux City Human Rights Commission: 2 May 1991 Human Rights Service Award.
• South Dakota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics: 14 September 1990 Child Advocacy Service Award.^[21]

Activities

• Publishing a newsletter^[22]
• Filing lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs
• Supporting laws that protect children against medical neglect
• Providing emotional support for victims of religion-based medical neglect
• Providing speakers
• Collecting and disseminating information about court cases and state and federal laws^[7]

Legal actions

The Swans filed a wrongful death suit against the Christian Science Church in 1980, but it was dismissed on First Amendment grounds, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their case on appeal.^[9][23] In 2000, CHILD sued the Director of the Health Care Financing Administration and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (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, was dismissed with summary judgment; on appeal, the judgment was upheld, and the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.^[24][25] 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 against the federal government's use of Medicare and Medicaid funds for Christian Science nursing.^[26][27]

Testimony before legislatures

Publications

• Swan, Rita (Winter 2009–2010), "Matthew, you cannot be sick", The Dublin Review (Dublin, Ireland: Brendan Barrington), no. 37, pp. 43–69, ISSN 1393-998X 
• Swan, Rita (2010). The Last Strawberry. Dublin: Hag's Head Press. ISBN 9780955126468. 
• Swan, Rita (2010). "Prayer-fee mandates removed from federal health care bills". ICSA Today (International Cultic Studies Association) 1 (2): 18–21. ISSN 2154-820X. 
• Swan, Rita (2011). "Chapter 63: Religion and Child Neglect". In Jenny, Carole. Child Abuse and Neglect: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Evidence (1st ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 599–604. ISBN 978-1-4160-6393-3. 
• Swan, Rita (2007). "Medical Neglect Related to Religion and Culture". In Jackson, Nicky Ali. Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence. New York: Routledge Press. pp. 475–483. ISBN 9780203942215. 
• Swan, Rita. "Religious Attitudes Toward Corporal Punishment". Ibid. pp. 205–208. 
• Swan, Rita (Nov–Dec 2000). "Religion-based neglect: Pervasive, deadly...and legal?". The Humanist (American Humanist Association): 11–16. ISSN 0018-7399. 
• Swan, R. (1998), "On statutes depriving a class of children of rights to medical care: Can this discrimination be litigated?", Quinnipiac Health Law Journal (Quinnipiac University, School of Law) 2 (1): 73–95, OCLC 36163682 
• Swan, R. (Winter 1998–1999). "Letting children die for the faith". Free Inquiry (Council for Secular Humanism) 19 (1): 6–7. ISSN 0272-0701. PMID 11657679. 
• "Religion-based medical neglect and corporal punishment must not be tolerated". The APSAC Advisor (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children) 11: 2–3. Spring 1998. ISSN 1088-3819. 
• Swan, R. (1997). "Children, medicine, religion, and the law". Advances in Pediatrics (Mosby: Elsevier) 44: 491–543. ISSN 0065-3101. PMID 9265980. 
• "Discrimination de jure: Religious exemptions for medical neglect". The APSAC Advisor (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children) 7: 35–8. Winter 1994. ISSN 1088-3819. 
• "Public policy: Religious exemptions". The Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter (John Wiley & Sons): 2–3. Jan 1993. ISSN 1058-1073. 
• Swan, Rita (Spring 1987). "The law should protect all children". Journal of Christian Nursing (Wolters Kluwer: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins) 4 (2): 40. doi:10.1097/00005217-198704020-00016. ISSN 0743-2550. PMID 3644911. 
• Swan, Rita (29 December 1983). "Faith healing, Christian Science, and the medical care of children". New England Journal of Medicine (Massachusetts Medical Society) 309 (26): 1639–41. doi:10.1056/NEJM198312293092610. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 6358892. 

Presentations

• "Persistence Counts." American Academy of Pediatrics Chapter Advocacy Summit, Schaumberg, IL, 16 March 2012
• "Oregon Reforms the Child Abuse Shield Law." Center for Inquiry / Council for Secular Humanism Conference, Orlando, FL, 2 March 2012
• Northwest Freethought Conference, Portland, OR, 26 March 2011
• Salem Humanists, Salem, OR, 22 February 2011
• Oregon State University Hundere Lecture in Religion and Culture, Corvallis, OR, 28 January 2010
• Iowa Society for Consumer Healthcare Advocacy, Iowa City, IA, 20 October 2006
• "When Religion Endangers Children." Morningside College Academic and Cultural Arts Series lecture, Sioux City, IA, 26 February 2003
• Florida's First Coast Conference on Child Maltreatment Jacksonville, FL, 19 April 2001
• Northern New England Conference on Child Maltreatment, Portland, ME, 18 September 2000
• National Association of Counsel for Children, Portland, OR, 10 October 1999
• American Family Foundation, Chicago, 14 November 1998
• American Atheists, Washington, DC, 13 June 1998
• "Religion-based Medical Neglect: Update on the Status of Children We Abandon."(general session lecture), San Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment, San Diego, CA, 28 January 1998
• Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, Minneapolis, MN, 19 August 1997
• Council on Child Abuse for Southern Ohio, Cincinnati, OH, 10 June 1997
• Mayo Clinic Family Practice Residents Seminar, Rochester, MN, 6 June 1997
• Training conducted for Iowa child abuse investigators in Iowa City, Des Moines, and Newton, IA, March 1995 through May 1996
• "The Religious Exemption Issue in the 1995 CAPTA Hearings." National Child Abuse Coalition, Washington, DC, 13 December 1994
• "Medical Neglect of Children on Religious Grounds." Freedom from Religion Foundation conference, Madison, WI, 1 October 1994^[33]
• Third Central Midwest Conference on Child Abuse, Moline, IL, 1 April 1993
• "Medical Neglect of Children on Religious Grounds." St. Luke's Child Protection Center conference, Cedar Rapids, IA, 1 October 1992
• "Religiously-based Medical Neglect: Legal Child Abuse?" (plenary lecture) and "Cultural Barriers to Medical Care of Children" (workshop), National Association of Counsel for Children Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 19 October 1992
• "Cultural Barriers to Medical Care of Children." (pediatric inservice), St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Sioux City, IA, 22 September 1992
• "Cultural Barriers to Medical Care of Children." Marian Health Center and Siouxland Council on Child Abuse and Neglect conference, Sioux City, IA, 29 April 1992
• "Equal Rights for Children under the Law." Iowa School Nurses Organization spring conference, Des Moines, IA, 11 April 1992
• "Medical Neglect in the Context of Religious Beliefs." Iowa Chapter of National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse spring conference, Des Moines, IA, 10 April 1992
• "Public Policy on Religiously-based Medical Neglect." U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect hearings, Los Angeles, CA, 3 April 1992
• "Medical Neglect and Religious Exemptions." (pediatric grand rounds), University of California, San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, CA, 21 January 1992
• "Medical Neglect in the Context of Religious Beliefs." (general session lecture), San Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment, San Diego, CA, 24 January 1992
• "The Christian Science Parent in a Health Care Crisis." 27th Annual Postgraduate Symposium on Medicine and Religion, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, 16 October 1991
• Presentation on deaths of Christian Science children, Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, Los Angeles, CA, 11 July 1991
• "Ethical Issues: Withholding Medical Care on Religious Grounds" (grand rounds), Minneapolis Children's Medical Center, MN, 25 June 1991
• "Medical Neglect: Public Policy and Public Scrutiny." Regional Conference on Medical Neglect of Children, Council Bluffs, IA, 30 November 1990
• "Child Abuse and Medical Neglect." Cult Awareness Network Conference, Teaneck, NJ, 27 October 1989
• "Children's Rights to Medical Care." Symposium in Pediatric Medical Ethics, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, FL, 8 November 1988
• "Public Policy on Sectarian Medical Neglect." Cult Awareness Network Conference, Washington, DC, 19 March 1988
• "Religious Exemptions from Parental Duties of Care." Seventh National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Chicago, IL, November 1985
• "Paranormal Health Cures." Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Buffalo, NY, 28 October 1983
• "Faith Healing Sects and Children's Rights to Medical Care." Fifth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Milwaukee, WI, April 1981^[15][21][34]

Television appearances

References

Further reading

• Stamm, Dan (22 April 2013). "Second child death for convicted faith-healing couple". NBC10 Television News Website (NBCUniversal Media, LLC.). 
• Anderson, Madeline (25 March 2013). "Marathon Co. faith healing case: 5 years after Kara Neumann's death". WSAW TV 7 News website (Gray Television, Inc.). 
• "Rita Swan and protecting children from religious exemptions" (blog). Free Thinking. Center for Inquiry. 9 March 2012. 
• Atwood, Kimball (16 October 2009). "Health care bills: More mischief in Washington" (blog). Science Based Medicine. 
• Vanegeren, Jessica (17 November 2009). "Dueling bills take aim at religious exemption". The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin). 
• Margolick, David (6 August 1990). "In child deaths, a test for Christian Science". The New York Times. 

External links

• National Association of Counsel for Children
• San Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment