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Child abuse is prohibited by all of our states. When it occurs, child protective agencies swing into action, often removing an endangered child from an unsafe home.

Many states also do their utmost to limit or discourage abortions, again to support the interest of the unborn child and dissuade the parent from ending a viable life.

So why is it that Idaho provides an exception to its law protecting children for parents who shun professional medical help, using instead prayer or other spiritual means to treat their children’s illness? The deaths of numerous children, for whom prayer alone was offered as a cure, is adequate proof that this is a flawed law.

That’s right! A state that tries to prevent expectant parents from aborting a child permits religious parents to replace proven professional care with intercessory prayer alone. In one case the state focuses on the needs of the child, while in the other it ignores them. That must stop.

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint