Editorial March 29, 1900 Issue

Prosecuting Attorney Frazer's Opinion

Editor

Pros. Atty. Frazer of Detroit, Mich., has recently given an opinion upon the question of the legal status of Christian Scientists in cases of death under Christian Science treatment. It seems that in this case a five-year-old child died while being treated by a Christian Scientist. A long investigation was held, and after a careful inquiry into the facts and a thorough examination of the law, Mr. Frazer arrived at the following conclusions, as published in the Detroit Evening News.

"In a case where husband and wife were indicted for manslaughter, for neglecting to provide medical aid for a fourteen-months-old child, who was suffering from inflammation of the lungs, the judge held that when from religious convictions that God would heal the sick, and not from any intention to avoid the performance of their duty, the parents of a sick child refuse to call in medical assistance, and the child dies, it is not culpable homicide.

"In another case a father was indicted for neglecting to furnish medical aid to his child, he belonging to a sect who had objections to calling medical advice or giving medicine in case of sickness. The jury found the prisoner guilty, and the judge, in delivering the opinion, said, 'Had it not been for the statute'—providing a punishment for parents who wilfully neglected to give their children medical attendance—'I should have entertained great doubt upon this case.' And another judge added, 'I agree with Lord Coleridge as to the difficulty which would have existed had it not been for the statute.'

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