Reply #8: Why the law can't do a thing about the infant-mortality rate of an Oregon sect (1998)

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RELIGION
AUGUST 31, 1998 VOL. 152 NO. 9

Why the law can't do a thing about the infant-mortality rate of an Oregon sect
By DAVID VAN BIEMA

The two small graves lie in the southeastern section of the old cemetery, near a stand of pine. They are surrounded by the resting places of other infants, many of whom never received first names: here is a placard denoting Baby Girl White, and another for Baby Boy Morris. Only a few life spans are commemorated, and many of these are shockingly short: weeks, days and even hours. Russ Briggs comes here often; he cannot stay away. "Those two, right there, those are my boys," he says, his voice cracking. "I could have saved them, but I let them die."

Briggs doesn't know for sure what killed his sons, but he believes that "if there had been an incubator, or modern medicine, I know they would have made it." So might many of the children surrounding them. Recently the Portland exurb of Oregon City has been shaken by what appears to be an ongoing horror in its midst. In June, Oregon state medical examiner Larry Lewman stated suspicions about the cemetery's owners, the 1,200-member Followers of Christ church. Over 10 years, he alleges, the faith-healing congregation's avoidance of doctors and hospitals may have cost the lives of 25 children, some under excruciating circumstances. A series by the Oregonian newspaper announced that of 78 minors buried in the graveyard over 35 years, 21 "probably would have lived with medical intervention, often as simple as antibiotics." If so, the cemetery may represent one of the largest concentrations of faith-healing-related fatalities in decades.

It also represents a legal conundrum. Terry Gustafson, district attorney for the Oregon City area, says of a recent death, "If you or I had committed the same crime against our own child, we would be looking at 25 years in the penitentiary." Yet Gustafson refuses to prosecute, calling it futile. Reason: an Oregon statute that exempts faith-healing parents from manslaughter charges. In protesting that law, Gustafson finds herself in high-powered company: the Academy of American Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the National District Attorneys Association all oppose similar immunities in six states and lesser exemptions countrywide ...

http://www.holysmoke.org/hs02/faithkil.htm

Followers of Christ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

... In January 1999, a bill was introduced in the Oregon Legislature to repeal the "religious beliefs" defense to charges of manslaughter, homicide, and child abuse.<14> After much debate, a modified version of the law was subsequently passed later that year ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Followers_of_Christ

Church came under fire a decade ago as well
By Dan Tilkin and KATU Web Staff
Story Published: Mar 27, 2008 at 3:27 PM PDT Story Updated: Mar 28, 2008 at 9:44 PM PDT

OREGON CITY, Ore. - Mark Hass is a now a state senator, but he was the KATU reporter who broke the story 10 years ago - the story about 20 or more children that the state medical examiner said died of easily treatable illnesses, children whose parents attend the Followers of Christ Church in Oregon City and believe in faith healing.

"Ten years ago I couldn't express my feelings for what was going on out there, but I can now," Hass said. "This is child abuse. Pure and simple. There is no other way to say it."

Hass said he remembered standing in the back of the church listening to the Followers of Christ service. There was no pastor and no sermon, just a series of hymns sung by the congregation. The leader apparently died years ago. An elder in the church told Hass that the followers believe their faith in God will cure the sick.

The question now is, did 15-month-old Ava Worthington die three weeks ago because of her parents' belief in faith healing? The medical examiner said she died in her parents' home from an illness that could have been cured with common antibiotics ...

http://www.katu.com/news/specialreports/17063536.html

Parents Indicted In Faith-Healing Death
March 31, 2008 12:09 PM EST

... Carl and Raylene Worthington were indicted Friday on charges of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the death of their 15-month-old daughter Ava. They belong to the Followers of Christ Church, whose members have a history of treating gravely ill children only with prayer.

Ava died March 2 of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection. The state medical examiner's office has said she could have been treated with antibiotics ...

Laws passed in the 1990s struck down legal shields for faith-healing parents after the deaths of several children whose parents were members of the fundamentalist church.

Since those laws took effect in 1999, "We haven't seen any cases of significant medical neglect ... until now," said child abuse Detective Jeff Green of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/28/madeline-neumann-11-year_n_93903.html

Ava clearly showed grave illness, pediatrician testifies
Published: Thursday, July 02, 2009, 2:31 PM Updated: Thursday, July 02, 2009, 8:53 PM

OREGON CITY -- Ava Worthington's weakened and worsening condition was so serious that her parents should have called 9-1-1 a full day before the toddler died, a pediatrician who specializes in infectious diseases testified Thursday.

In fact, Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington ignored several red flags that, if heeded, would have saved their 15-month-old daughter's life, said Dr. Sayonara Mato, a pediatric hospitalist with Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center ...

The Worthingtons never questioned their daughter's failure to develop normally, ignored a cyst that would swell when she had an infection, and chose not seek medical help when she became noticeably more distressed, said Mato, a prosecution witness.

Ava died at home on March 2, 2008, of pneumonia, a blood infection and complications from a cyst that interfered with her trachea and esophagus ...

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2009/07/ava_clearly_showed_grave_illne.html