Several states have taken on religion in court
May 30th, 2008 @ 6:02pm
Carole Mikita reporting
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) say the state of Texas is attacking their religion. State authorities say the case is about abuse.
Texas investigators claim dozens of broken bones were discovered among the more than 460 FLDS children in state custody, suggesting their parents used severe punishment.
Protective services in other states have gone that route before and succeeded in court. Family Law professor Linda Smith said, "There was a case in South Carolina, where a religious father beat his daughter severely and thought he was obligated to beat her under his religious teachings. Nevertheless, the family was found to have abused the child."
Abuse can be defined in medical terms. Today, Jehovah's Witnesses work with medical experts on bloodless surgery, but in the past there were several cases in different states where parents refused blood transfusions to save their child's life. "The child is typically found to be neglected," Smith said. "The court will take legal custody and order the transfusion to save the child's life. The fact that the parents don't believe in a blood transfusion doesn't make their decision to allow their child to die, not neglectful."
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