Can you treat a sick child with prayer instead of medical care? What KS & MO laws say

Most of the time, it is expected that sick or injured children should receive medical attention.

But in some states, laws allow parents or guardians to instead treat children only with prayer.

Kansas and Missouri are among them.

Both states’ definitions of child endangerment and neglect have decades-old exemptions for religious parents who choose to pray for sick or injured children instead of taking them to the doctor.

These exemptions shield parents from criminal charges — even if their child dies from a preventable cause.

According to the National District Attorneys’ Association, the federal government required religious exemptions to state-level child abuse and neglect laws when it passed the Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act in 1974. States had to comply in order to receive federal funding for child protection programs.

But while the federal religious exemption requirement was repealed in 1983, many states still have them on the books.

Here’s a closer look at these religious exemptions in Kansas and Missouri.

What are Kansas’ religious exemptions to child endangerment laws?

Child endangerment is broadly defined in Kansas state law as “recklessly causing or permitting a child under the age of 18 years to be placed in a situation in which the child’s life, body or health is endangered.”

The crime carries a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year of prison time.

But a little-known statute carves out an exception to child endangerment laws for parents who choose “in good faith” to pray for their child to get better when sick or injured, rather than getting them medical care. The subsection reads:

“Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to mean a child is endangered for the sole reason the child’s parent or guardian, in good faith, selects and depends upon spiritual means alone through prayer, in accordance with the tenets and practice of a recognized church or religious denomination, for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial care of such child.”

While this statute doesn’t explicitly mention denying a child medical care, its language allowing parents to rely on “spiritual means alone” places it on the National District Attorneys Association’s list of religious exemptions to child neglect.

However, a court order can still approve needed medical care for a child in Kansas, even if their parents object on religious grounds.

What are Missouri’s religious exemptions to child endangerment laws?

Missouri’s laws are a little different. The definition of child endangerment in Missouri has an exception for a child “being provided nonmedical remedial treatment.”

While that statute doesn’t mention prayer specifically, it can be interpreted to include spiritual practices.

Missouri also has a religious exemption in a statute laying out reporting requirements for child abuse and neglect. It reads:

“Any child who does not receive specified medical treatment by reason of the legitimate practice of the religious belief of the child’s (guardians), for that reason alone, shall not be found to be an abused or neglected child, and such (guardians) shall not be entered into the central registry.”

Unlike Kansas’ law, this statute explicitly mentions denying a child medical care. But while guardians are allowed to choose prayer over medical treatment, the statute goes on to say that the state can still investigate them for doing so, and can step in to get the child the medical care they need.

How many states still have religious exemptions to their child neglect laws?

According to the Pew Research Center, 34 states plus Washington, D.C. still had religious exemptions for child abuse and neglect as of 2016, with Kansas and Missouri among them.

Some argue that the right to deny a child medical care is a question of religious freedom. Others call state exemptions permitting this “an unconstitutional violation of children’s right to equal protection under the law.”

Today, numerous nonprofit organizations oppose these religious exemptions, pointing to preventable child deaths in families that are religiously opposed to medical care.

In a 1992 study, the nonprofit group Massachusetts Citizens for Kids found over 150 examples around the country of children dying due to religious objections to medical care over the past 25 years. None of these children are thought to have died in Kansas or Missouri.

Another study from 2000 in the Journal of Law & Religion found 172 child deaths between 1975 and 1995 thought to be caused by their families’ religious objections to medical care. The specific locations of these deaths are not available.

Even when they don’t lead to deaths, religious objections to medical care can still have severe consequences.

In 1994, the CDC reported an outbreak of measles infecting nearly 200 students at a Christian Science boarding school in St. Louis — many of whom were unvaccinated due to their families’ religious beliefs.

Do you have more questions about little-known laws in Kansas or Missouri? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.