Should They Go to Prison?

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/24/faith-healing-parents-charged-with-murder-for-refusing-kids-medical-care-should-they-go-to-prison/

In the article “Faith-healing Parents Charged with Murder for Refusing Kids’ Medical Care – Should They Go to Prison” the author, Billy Hallowell, writes about Herbert and Catherine Schaible, a couple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who put all their trust in God and refused to give their son, Brandon Schaible the medicine needed to save his life.

Brandon Schaible suffered from pneumonia and did not receive any medication. His condition got worse to the point where medical attention was desperately needed. He had diarrhea, breathing issues, and was not eating. Because his parents did not take him to the doctor and he did not get any medical treatment, Brandon passed away in April when he was just 8 months old.

Brandon was not the Schaibles’ first child to die from the refusal of medical care. Their son, Kent Schaibles, passed away in 2009 when he was two years old for this very exact reason. The Shaibles at this time were found guilty of “involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment” . They were told that medical care must be provided to their children and if they deny it to another one of their children, they could be in prison for at least fourteen years. They did not follow this order so when Brandon passed away, they were charged with third-degree murder.

The Schaibles attend the First Century Gospel church in their city, which are against doctor visits and medicine because trust must be put in faith rather than in medicine.

Due their religious beliefs, they thought that refusing to give their children medical attention was justified. The bail was set at 250,000 each and the rest of their seven children were put in foster care.

The question of whether or not putting the Schaibles in jail due to their religious beliefs is fair and justified is one of major concern and has created conflicting views and opinions. Although there is freedom of religion, is there an extent where religious practices should not be allowed? If so, when should the line be drawn?

I believe that if someone’s life is in danger, medical attention needs to be given, regardless of if your religious belief is that faith is all you need to be healed. Life is too sacred and sacred things should not be gambled when medical recourses are readily available.  Relying on faith alone is too risky when dealing with a life or death situation. In the Schaibles’s situation, they already had one of their children die and they should have realized their mistake then and there. Rather than seeing that faith alone did not save Kent, they put Brandon’s life on risk when they continued with a plan that did not work the first time. Because of this, they lost two children. How many more of their children will need to suffer for the Schaibles to realize that faith-healing is too risky when someone’s life is on the line. What they should have done was use faith and prayer as a supplement to medicine because God put doctors and medicine on earth for a reason. Overall, although they did not intentionally murder their children, I think that what they did was illogical and putting them in jail was the right decision.