At a recent town hall, Sen. Mary Souza (R-Coeur d’Alene) was asked about the Idaho Legislature’s inaction on faith-based medical neglect, and erroneously stated, “Many of the kids in the faith healing community are not well anyway and would not have survived, even with treatment.” Her position is not supported by the facts.

Idaho is one of just six states that shields parents from legal consequences if for religious reasons they deny lifesaving medical treatment to their children. According to a 2015 report by Gov. Butch Otter’s task force on children at risk, those subject to faith-based medical neglect are 10 times more likely to die than the public at large.

According to a 1998 study published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, among 172 deaths related to faith-based medical neglect in the United States, only three children would not have benefited from medical care, but with care 144 of those children would have had more than a 90% chance of survival.

These children are dying from easily treatable conditions like influenza and pneumonia. Even a manageable diagnosis like type 1 diabetes can be a death sentence for a child who is denied insulin by a parent. If Sen. Souza believes parents’ religious rights to deny medical treatment to their children outweigh a child’s right to life, she should simply admit it instead of misleading her constituents on the facts.

COLIN NASH

Boise