Oregon lawmakers will take the first step today toward ending legal protections for parents who rely solely on faith to treat their dying children.

The bill targets the Followers of Christ, an Oregon City church with a long history of children dying from treatable medical conditions. A previous crackdown restricted but did not eliminate religious immunity from state criminal statutes.

said deaths of three Followers children in recent years – all without medical intervention – prompted her to introduce the bill. "Such gross and unnecessary neglect cannot be allowed, even if the parents are well-meaning," Tomei said.

The legislation appears primed for approval. It has wide support both political parties, prosecutors, medical providers and child-protection groups, and there is no organized opposition.

"I don't think there'll be anyone coming to testify against it," Tomei said.

would remove spiritual treatment as a defense for all homicide charges. Moreover, if found guilty, parents would be subject to mandatory sentencing under Oregon's Measure 11.

Legislators and prosecutors hope the threat of long prison sentences will cause church members to reconsider their tradition of rejecting medical treatment in favor of faith healing.

"This will level the playing field so all parents will be operating under the same rules," said

. "It's going to make it easier to hold parents accountable who don't protect their children."

Previous reforms



Faith healing and Oregon law

WHAT'S NEW

Current law:

Oregon is the only state that provides immunity from prosecution for murder by neglect and first-degree manslaughter to those who provide care or treatment to minors "solely by spiritual means pursuant to (their) religious beliefs." Some cases are also exempt from mandatory minimum sentences.

House Bill 2721:

Repeals spiritual treatment defense in cases of homicide and criminal mistreatment of children. Those convicted of second-degree manslaughter would be subject to a minimum sentence of six years and three months.

Today's hearing:

The House Judiciary Committee will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 343 of the Capitol in Salem.

In the late 1990s, a series of news stories in The Oregonian documented dozens of cases of Followers of Christ children dying from curable medical conditions.

Oregon legislators responded in 1999 with a proposal to eliminate the use of religious belief as a criminal defense. But the bill faced opposition from Christian Scientists and mixed support from lawmakers.

"That was the most we could do at the time," said Kevin Mannix, a Salem attorney who then chaired the House Judiciary subcommittee on criminal law. Mannix is now president of the Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance, which supports HB 2721.

Another wave of Followers of Christ faith-healing deaths started in 2008 and received wide media attention, including television coverage on TruTV, a cable channel formerly known as Court TV.

The publicity of trials "had a dramatic impact" on the need to strengthen the law, Mannix said.

The Christian Science Church also changed its position. The continuing deaths "reached a critical mass," said John Clague, Christian Science media and legislative liaison.

"This is not about Christian Science," Clague said. "This is all coming from another denomination. We should never risk the life of a child through the practice of spiritual care."

Will a new law work?



Practically speaking, it's hard to say how the Followers will react to losing legal protections. Church leaders do not speak to the media and rarely issue statements, and the church did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Foote has taken a dual approach in dealing with the Followers. He aggressively prosecuted parents who failed to seek medical care for their children. And he reached out, sending a letter last year inviting church members to join him in seeking a middle ground, protecting children while respecting religious practices.

The Followers appear to be divided on the issue of medical care, according to multiple sources familiar with the congregation. Some take their children to doctors but do so privately to avoid criticism or shunning. Some want to use doctors but fear ostracism. And some are hard-core believers who would never seek medical care.

The two most recent cases to go to trial, involving the deaths of 15-month-old Ava Worthington and her teenage uncle, Neil Beagley, clearly showed that some church members will defy the law, even if it means a prison sentence.

Ava's parents testified that they believed their faith-healing rituals – prayer, anointing with oil, fasting and laying on of hands – were working right to the minute the girl died of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection.

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Beagley's parents testified that they never considered taking their dying son to a hospital or calling 9-1-1, even when he stopped breathing.

Ava's parents, Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington, were found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter. Beagley's parents, Jeffrey and Marci Beagley, were convicted of criminally negligent homicide last year and sentenced to 16 months in prison.

A third Followers of Christ couple, Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, were recently charged with first-degree criminal mistreatment for failing to seek treatment for a growth that covered their infant daughter's left eye and left her on the verge of blindness. They are scheduled for trial in May.

Since the Worthingtons, Beagleys, Wylands and other church members won't talk to the media, it's impossible to gauge how they and other parents have been affected by the trials.

All three couples have said that taking their children to doctors would be a sign of spiritual weakness.

Mannix, a devout Catholic, strongly defended a family's right to use prayer and faith healing but emphasized the need to protect children.

"It's not like the state is going out and trying to undermine religion," Mannix said. "(Parents) can adhere to their values as adults, but as a society we will protect their children so they can achieve adulthood and make decisions for themselves," Mannix said.

"God also gave us doctors and the capability to heal physically, and we should use those gifts."

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TIMELINE

1995:

Lobbied by the Christian Science Church, legislators introduce a religious defense to Oregon's homicide statutes, protecting parents who try to heal their children solely with prayer and faith-healing rituals. Parents who could prove to a judge or jury that faith governed their actions become immune from criminal liability, just as others can assert a claim of self-defense or extreme emotional disturbance.

1997:

Again at the behest of Christian Scientists, Oregon legislators add religious shields to the state's first- and second-degree manslaughter statutes.

1998:

Citing legal immunities for faith-healers, Clackamas County District Attorney Terry Gustafson declines to prosecute Followers of Christ church members whose 11-year-old son, Bo Phillips, died from untreated diabetes. As he suffered for days, his parents withheld medical treatment in favor of prayer. The boy's death sparks a statewide controversy and calls for changes in Oregon law.

1999:

After months of debate, legislators reform Oregon's faith-healing laws, eliminating religious protections in cases of first- and second-degree criminal mistreatment and second-degree manslaughter. In a compromise with advocates of religious freedom and parental rights, legislators also approve a faith-healing exemption to mandatory minimum sentences.

2009:

Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington of Oregon City become the first parents prosecuted under the 1999 reforms after their 15-month-old daughter dies from untreated bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection. A Clackamas County jury acquits the mother and convicts the father on a single count of criminal mistreatment. Since then, charges have been brought against several more Followers, including Raylene Worthington's parents, Jeffrey and Marci Beagley, who were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of their teenage son.

2011:

Lawmakers consider eliminating the last remnants of Oregon's religious-defense statutes.