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Idaho once prohibited faith-healing exemptions for child medical care
Historical records show that Idaho's current legal protections shielding faith-healing parents from neglect and manslaughter charges were introduced in the 1970s.
The short version
- Idaho law currently protects parents from child neglect or manslaughter charges if they withhold medical treatment due to religious beliefs.
- Historical records reveal that choosing prayer over medical care for a child was illegal in Idaho from at least the 1880s through the early 1970s.
- Idaho has retained its faith-healing exemptions despite child deaths in sects like the Followers of Christ, while many other states have rolled back similar laws.
Key facts
- Idaho statutes from 1887 through the early 1970s made it illegal for parents to willfully omit medical attendance for a child, offering no exceptions for spiritual beliefs.[ProPublica]
- The Idaho Legislature added a spiritual-treatment exemption during a criminal code rewrite in 1971, which was further expanded in 1972 and 1976.[ProPublica]
- The federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 prompted many states to adopt faith-healing exemptions because the Department of Health, Education and Welfare initially interpreted it as a grant requirement.[ProPublica]
- The Reagan administration adopted a neutral stance on these exemptions in 1983, leading several states to roll back their protections, though Idaho retained its laws.[ProPublica]
- The Followers of Christ faith-healing sect in Idaho experienced 15 preventable child deaths between 2015 and 2025.[ProPublica]
What remains uncertain
- It is not clear from legislative records how the original wording for Idaho's 1971 spiritual-treatment exemption originated.[ProPublica]
- Historical archives do not document the exact number of times Idaho prosecuted parents for refusing medical care during the decades preceding the 1971 law.[ProPublica]