Faith versus Medicine: When a Parent Refuses a Child’s Medical Care

Issues surrounding parental denial of medical care for children in need has unexpectedly emerged as one of the most contentious issues in health law policy this year. Parents have cited religious reasons or personal preferences for alternative medical therapy as justification to refuse such treatment. Although the ability of a parent to consent to potentially life-saving medical therapy for a child is an established canon of family law, the outer boundaries of a parent’s right to refuse life-saving medical treatment for a child are ill-defined. The limits of parents’ refusal to allow life-saving medical care is currently being tested in two cases – one in Wisconsin and the other in Minnesota. Although the two cases differ significantly in the circumstances, venue, and medical outcomes, both cases raise the issue of when and how the state may intervene to save the life of a child over the express religious or medical beliefs, and conduct, of one or both parents.