Another victim in the war on reason. This time, it was an 11-year-old girl who died, due to her parents’ belief that it was a lack of prayer, and not a lack of medical attention, that was causing their daughter to become increasingly ill. Madeline Kara Neumann died of diabetic ketoacidosis, which is a complication of diabetes arising from a near complete deficiency of insulin. Though this complication has an incredibly high mortality rate, it is unlikely to occur when diabetes is properly treated with regular insulin shots.

They believed the key to healing “was it was better to keep praying. Call more people to help pray,” he said.

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected, the police chief said.

Many people believe that prayer has a positive effect on treating diseases or healing illnesses; yet there is no evidence that prayer has any effect on the treatment of diseases. It is even uncertain whether or not there are any psychological advantages to a person knowing that others are praying for their recovery. Fortunately, in most cases, prayer does not get in the way of traditional medicine. Every once in a while, though, we hear about people who refuse life-saving treatments because they conflict with their religious beliefs (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing blood transfusions). Arguably, these people are fully within their rights to refuse a life-saving medical procedure, regardless of their reasons for it (unless we are trying to prevent the spread of a communicable disease).

However, when parents use their own religious beliefs and superstitions to prevent their children from receiving proper medical treatment, this represents a gross infringement on the rights of children. One of the reasons we entrust children to the care of their parents is that we recognize they are not old enough to make decisions for themselves. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to suggest that if they are not old enough to be considered capable of making fully rational decisions, then they are also not old enough to hold a coherent system of beliefs, and understand the implications of those beliefs. As such, it’s always best to err on the side of caution (read: keeping the child alive [no, this does not mean that abortion is wrong]).

Even then, it blows my mind how parents who obviously care enough about their daughter to corral a bunch of people into praying for her recovery, wouldn’t even bring her to a doctor on the off chance that they would be able to help. Completely rational people will often turn to very irrational means of curing ailments when they have exhausted all other options. It strikes me as surprising that the equivalent didn’t happen in this case.

On a slightly tangential note, it strikes me as silly that even though they didn’t have enough prayer-power for a simple healing, they still believe they can pull off a full-blown resurrection. As if!

The girl has three siblings, ranging in age from 13 to 16, the police chief said.

“They are still in the home,” he said. “There is no reason to remove them. There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see.”

Removing children from their parents is a no-win situation, and one that cannot be made lightly. Both the rights of the family and the well-being of the child need to be looked after, and these goals are usually best accomplished by keeping the family intact. That being said, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch of the imagination to suggest that withholding a life-saving treatment from your child constitutes some type of abuse. These parents didn’t beat their children, and they clearly cared for their daughter very much, albeit in a very misguided way. Nevertheless, caring for a child is not enough. Parents are granted the rights to make decisions for their children on the condition that they will look out for the best interest of their children, and that they take on the positive burden of taking care of their children. It is not merely the job of a parent to ensure that their child does not come to harm — they must take active steps towards safeguarding the health and well-being of their children. When the act in question is as simple and accessible as taking your child to a doctor, failing to do so is negligent and a form of child abuse. Plain and simple.

As of 2005, there were over 20 million people living with diabetes in the United States, and an estimated 6 million of those cases went undiagnosed.