ABSTRACT

When Brandi and Russel Bellew’s son Austin became ill in 2011, they decided not to seek medical care but instead to pray for his healing. After he died, the Oregon couple was charged and eventually pled guilty to negligent homicide in September 2012 and lost custody of their six other children. As members of the General Assembly Church of the First Born, they believed in faith healing. Many such religious groups practice various forms of faith healing rather than traditional medical procedures. Such cases are controversial because they pit the state’s right to protect children against parents’ rights and religious freedoms. Parents who practice faith healing typically claim that the government cannot force them to seek medical care for their children because of their religious rights that are protected under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause (Williams 2012). This clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ” (U.S. Constitution, First Amendment). While this Amendment protects many religious activities from government intervention, the Supreme Court has made it clear that there are many exceptions, such as child labor and polygamy (Williams 2012).