Linda Martin, a former member of the Followers of Christ Church, has worked to lift exemptions for faith healing in Idaho’s child injury laws. AP2014

CALDWELL, Idaho — In the heart of the Northwest, there is Idaho. And in the heart of Idaho, there is God. And God, residents believe, blesses some and takes others away early.

Like Neil Jacob Randolph, a 3-year-old buried in Peaceful Valley Cemetery in Caldwell in 1982. “Sleep on sweet Neil — and take thy rest,” his headstone reads. “God called thee home. He thought it best.”

In another row are the graves of four infants marked with identical headstones on which “Infant Bailey” is hand-scrawled in capital letters — pressed into wet cement decades ago.

Many of the nearly 600 people buried here were Followers of Christ — a Christian sect that believes in faith healing and does not allow members — including sick children — to see doctors or use modern medicine. The Pentecostal religion, founded in the 1930s, has long had a presence in Western states. Former members say the church has become increasingly secretive about its beliefs and population after years of negative attention for deaths related to spiritual healing.

Several of the children buried here at Peaceful Valley Cemetery died from preventable ailments like pneumonia and food poisoning. And 70 percent of these children died after 1972, when religious exemptions protecting faith healers from charges of neglect, abuse and murder were enacted in Idaho and around the country. If a child dies or is abused in Idaho, law states that a parent can’t be found guilty if they believe in spiritual healing.

“The practice of a parent or guardian who chooses for his child treatment by prayer or spiritual means alone shall not for that reason alone be construed to have violated the duty of care to such child,” the law reads.

But today, some people wonder how many of the dead children here could have been saved. Idaho is one of only six U.S. states that allow religious exemption for negligent homicide, manslaughter or capital murder. While some have called for the Gem State’s law to be revised, efforts have gained little traction. A bill introduced last year was swiftly nixed by Idaho’s House speaker, and lawmakers say they haven’t heard of any bills coming forward in this year’s session. And this week, the House State Affairs Committee passed a bill — despite emotional testimony — that recognizes that Idaho parents and guardians “have a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, education and control of their children.” Many expressed concern that this was just another covert protection for faith healers

Efforts to discuss Idaho’s laws by Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD), a national organization working to protect children, have been met coolly by the Idaho Governor’s Task Force on Children at Risk. “The governor has indicated that he will not take a position on this legislation, and therefore the task force will not be taking a position,” its chairman wrote in an email last fall to CHILD. “Individuals may act independently as they desire.”

Idaho is bucking the legal trend around the country, particularly in Northwestern states, where religious shield laws are quickly falling away. Oregon removed its laws in 2011 and has seen convictions of faith healers in recent months. Earlier this month, Washington took steps to revamp its law by passing a bill unanimously through committee that would remove references to faith-based exemptions regarding criminal mistreatment of children and vulnerable adults. Supporters of reform testified that Washington’s current law creates “confusion that results in harm to children.”

But in deeply religious Idaho, debate over faith-based protections raises questions about how far religious freedom extends, what rights children are born with and whether government can tell people how to parent.

Many believe religious exemption laws legalize child abuse.

“You can’t beat a child,” said Linda Martin, a former Follower of Christ working to see Idaho’s laws repealed. She said she could no longer sit back and watch Idaho children die in the name of God. “To sit there and do absolutely nothing for a child except pray for them and watch them suffer? That’s just inhumane.”

“You’re dealing with an 1800s mentality in the 2000s. And there’s just no reasoning with it,” she added.

But Rep. Christy Perry (R-Nampa) said the law, as it stands, represents the constituents of her district, Canyon County, where Peaceful Valley Cemetery sits. “They have a clear understanding of what the role of government should be,” she said. “[It] isn’t how to tell me how to live my life.”

And perhaps, she said, Followers of Christ are more comfortable confronting death. “Children do die,” Perry said. “And I’m not trying to sound callous, but [people calling for reform] want to act as if death is an anomaly. But it’s not. It’s a way of life.”

With Perry’s help, Al Jazeera America reached out to two groups associated with faith healing as well as one family, but all declined to speak publicly.