The law against faith healing.

[phrodeau]

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2011/09/jury_reaches_verdict_in_faith-.html

A jury today unanimously convicted Dale and Shannon Hickman in the faith-healing death of their infant son.

Both parents were found guilty of second-degree manslaughter, a Class B felony that requires a sentence of at least six years and three months in prison under Measure 11, Oregon's mandatory sentencing law. However, because of a religious exemption that was eliminated after the Hickmans were indicted, they could face no more than 18 months in prison and a $250,000 fine.

After the jury left the courtroom, the Hickmans stood and embraced. Shannon Hickman pressed her face against her husband's chest and sobbed.

The couple, who have two other children, will be sentenced Oct. 31. Prosecutors asked that they be held in jail until sentencing, but Judge Robert Herndon allowed them to remain free until then.

The Hickmans are members of Oregon City's Followers of Christ church, which has a long history of children dying from treatable conditions because their parents relied on faith healing rather than taking them to doctors. In response to such cases, legislators this year removed religious exemptions from Oregon's criminal statutes.

As word got out that the jury had reached a verdict, the Clackamas County courtroom filled with about 80 friends and family from the Followers of Christ church. Among those present Carl and Raylene Worthington, another Followers of Christ couple tried in the faith-healing death of a child. Carl Worthington was convicted of criminal mistreatment and sentenced in 2009 to six months in jail. Raylene Worthington was acquitted.

David Hickman was born on Sept. 26, 2009, and lived less than nine hours.

His mother, Shannon Hickman, went into labor two months before her due date. Instead of going to a hospital, she and her husband opted to have the baby in her mother's home. At birth, he weighed 3 pounds, 7 ounces.

The Hickmans testified that David appeared healthy then took a sudden dire turn. Dale Hickman responded by holding his newborn son, praying for him and anointing him with olive oil. The parents said they never considered calling a doctor, and the baby died quickly.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Mark Cogan maintained it is unfair to fault the Hickmans for failing to call 9-1-1. "What opportunity was there?" he asked. "What benefit would there have been?"

Prosecutors contended that the Hickmans knew their son was born dangerously premature and that he struggled from the beginning, giving them plenty of time to seek medical assistance. If they had done so, medical experts testified, there was more than a 99 percent change the baby would have survived.

"There was plenty of time to do something," prosecutor John Wentworth said in closing arguments. "What did Shannon and Dale Hickman do? Nothing," he said. "They didn't even try."

Dale and Shannon Hickman both testified in their defense.

When asked why he didn't call 9-1-1 once he realized his infant son was failing, Dale Hickman responded, "Because I was praying."

Asked the same question, Shannon Hickman said that as a woman in the church, she must defer to her husband. "That's not my decision anyway," she said. "I think it's God's will whatever happens."

Medical experts called by the prosecution also challenged the defense assertion that the baby's health was fine until he suddenly died. They testified that a baby born two months prematurely would have struggled from birth with underdeveloped lungs.

Defense attorneys contended the Hickmans were singled out for prosecution because of their religious beliefs, noting that the district attorney waited a year to file charges against the Hickmans, indicting them shortly after the arrests of Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, also members of the church.

The Wylands failed to take their infant daughter to a doctor for a growth that almost destroyed her left eye. They were convicted in June of criminal mistreatment and sentenced to 90 days in jail. The back-to-back arrests of the two couples further inflamed public animosity toward the church, the defense attorneys said.

Two days after the Wylands were convicted, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a law that removed the remnants of Oregon's legal protection for parents who rely solely on faith healing to meet their children's medical needs. The law, a direct response to the Followers of Christ cases, eliminates spiritual treatment as a defense against all homicide charges and subjects parents to mandatory sentencing under Oregon's Measure 11.

Unless the law changes again, the Hickmans will be the last Oregon parents protected by religious exemptions to state homicide statutes.

Yes, we'll all be out of the Middle Ages soon.

 

[Wok]

Ah ha! The answer to ObamaCare.

 

[phrodeau]

It strikes me that Rebecca Wyland and Shannon Hickman were convicted, but Raylene Worthington was not. Was the Worthington jury convinced that Raylene was fully submissive to her husband, and therefore innocent of the crime?

 

[Wok]

It strikes me that Rebecca Wyland and Shannon Hickman were convicted, but Raylene Worthington was not. Was the Worthington jury convinced that Raylene was fully submissive to her husband, and therefore innocent of the crime?

Probably.

 

[bronzeage]

Their real crime was living in the 21st century.

 

[shy slave]

Oh my Goodness!

People like this couple and their Church, give those who believe in Faith healing a bad name.

Healing and medical attention are not mutally exclusive.

I wish I was angry at their stupidity, but instead idiots never cease to amaze me.

It reminds me of this joke:

A town starts to flood due to bad weather, a good Christian woman sits on the roof of her home watching the flood rise and parying to God.
The fire brigade comes to take her to safety but she refuses saying 'God will save me.'
The rescue boat comes to take her to safety but she refuses saying 'God will save me.'
The search and assist helicopter comes to take her to safety but she refuses saying 'God will save me.'
The woman drowns and on entering Heaven meets with God. She asks Please God, why did you not rescue me?
God replies 'Who the hell do you think sent the fire brigade, boat and helicopter!'

 

[mustang200]

But an abortion is somehow ok. Anybody see the irony, here?

 

[Sean]

But an abortion is somehow ok. Anybody see the irony, here?

No. Does anyone see the false equivalency here?

 

[Peregrinator]

No. Does anyone see the false equivalency here?

You mean touching someone and yelling for the Tooth Fairy to take out the demons is not the same as surgery?

 

[where]

you americans have some dumb fucking laws.

 

[chillywilly2]

I don't get it







the fucking olive oil should have worked

 

[bronzeage]

Would this case be different if the baby were born in a hospital and the parents signed a "no extreme measures" form and the baby died because it was not put on a respirator?

 

[where]

Would this case be different if the baby were born in a hospital and the parents signed a "no extreme measures" form and the baby died because it was not put on a respirator?

of course. it's the all controlling medical model.

 

[shy slave]

You mean touching someone and yelling for the Tooth Fairy to take out the demons is not the same as surgery?

*snort*

I think my dentist is a demon, is that the same thing?

 

[Sean]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0W7Jbc_Vhw&feature=relmfu

 

[CandiCame]

you americans have some dumb fucking laws.

Yeah- it's a pain in the ass. You'd be amazed at how many stupid laws we have...

But seriously- no god wants your kid to die. Or if it does... fuck that, right?

 

[KRCummings]

Yeah- it's a pain in the ass. You'd be amazed at how many stupid laws we have...

But seriously- no god wants your kid to die. Or if it does... fuck that, right?

God doesn't decide that stuff. Faith healing at its best is the power of suggestion and at its worst a terrible mistake. God gave us medicine.

 

[HAL_9000]

God gave us medicine.

So, the devil is making the germs resistant to the God-medicine?

 

[KRCummings]

So, the devil is making the germs resistant to the God-medicine?

No, we did that because we're morons that didn't listen to the doctors that said "Hey, you might wanna lay off the penicillin you fucking idiots."

 

[HAL_9000]

No, we did that because we're morons that didn't listen to the doctors that said "Hey, you might wanna lay off the penicillin you fucking idiots."

But the MDs prescribe the antibiotics like candy for a case of the sniffles.

Probably boils down to the root of all evil.

 

[KRCummings]

But the MDs prescribe the antibiotics like candy for a case of the sniffles.

Probably boils down to the root of all evil.

It started early when penicillin was used for everything. It was in every type of product imaginable and some doctors at the time warned against it but nobody listened. Then came antibacterial soaps and such. It's a wonder we haven't been wiped out by a superbug yet.
At some point we have to let our bodies fight things naturally. It's why I'm cautious about so many vaccines. Just give the kids chicken pox for crying out loud.

 

[HAL_9000]

It started early when penicillin was used for everything. It was in every type of product imaginable and some doctors at the time warned against it but nobody listened. Then came antibacterial soaps and such. It's a wonder we haven't been wiped out by a superbug yet.
At some point we have to let our bodies fight things naturally. It's why I'm cautious about so many vaccines. Just give the kids chicken pox for crying out loud.

Well, vaccines are good because they just give the immune system a little taste of the germ.

I don't like how everything from plastic toys, plates, etc to dishsoap have Triclosan.