Abstract
IN THE WAKE of convictions of parents for what has been called the religiously motivated medical neglect of their children, the Christian Science Church is trying to persuade state legislatures that its particular form of healing by prayer is as least as effective as medicine. Child protection advocates suggest that this new "more secular strategy" is in response to the recent failure of some religious exemption statutes to protect church members from prosecution when their children die from medical neglect. While the church claims religious exemptions from provisions of child abuse and neglect laws are a First Amendment right, courts consistently have ruled that religious freedom does not allow parents to withhold life-saving medical care from children (<i>The Law's Response When Religious Beliefs Against Medical Care Impact on Children</i>. Sioux City, Iowa: CHILD, Inc; 1990). In the meantime, legislation recently adopted in Colorado, Texas, and Louisiana, and under consideration elsewhere,
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