Article April 2, 1904 Issue

Legislation in Kentucky

L. H. JONES.

The Kentucky legislature which has been in session at Frankfort since the first of January has just adjourned. The physicians have been industriously at work most of the term, trying to get some additional protective legislation. After much contention among themselves they finally agreed on a bill which provides that, "Authority to practise medicine under this act shall be a certificate from the State Board of Health [constituted wholly of M.D.'s, except one osteopath]; and said board shall issue a certificate to any physician, who has passed a satisfactory examination before it, in the branches of medicine as taught in reputable medical colleges," etc. Section five provides, "Any other person applying for authority to treat the sick or injured, or in any way to discharge the duties usually performed by physicians, whether by medical, surgical, mechanical, or 'psychic' means, shall apply to the State Board of Health, who shall examine them as to their competency in such manner as they shall deem fair and best, but such examination shall always include anatomy, physiology, and pathology, and the term, 'practice of medicine,' as used in this act, shall be construed to be the treatment of any human ailment or infirmity by any method; but this act shall not include trained or other nurses, or persons selling proprietary medicines protected by patent, when not traveling as a troupe or troupes composed of two or more persons."

It might be difficult to explain why it should be thought more dangerous to the "public health" for a Christian Scientist, who does not administer drugs of any kind, to practise the healing art, than for a vendor of these nostrums, who may know nothing whatever of the nature either of the disease or of the remedy he recommends.

The wording of the bill was most subtle, and the thought had gone out everywhere that it did not apply to Christian Science, and this thought had infected even Christian Scientists, and when the real intent of the bill was discovered some of them said, "It is too late to do anything." Something was done, however, and that quickly. One of the Scientists went to the telephone, as soon as a copy of the bill could be seen, and asked the chairman of the Senate committee before whom the bill was pending for an opportunity to be heard, and received a flat refusal, the chairman saying it was absolutely impossible for his committee to hear anybody else on that bill. But next morning bright and early the Scientist was in Frankfort, and meeting the chairman on the street was finally granted fifteen minutes' time to make a statement for the Christian Scientists before the committee which was to meet that afternoon at three o'clock. Later the date for the hearing was changed, which gave time for notifying the Scientists at other points in the state. Knowing that the time to work most effectively against a bill is while it is pending before its committee, nothing was left undone to make the work at the hearing as complete as possible, and when the committee filed into its room that beautiful afternoon they found to their evident surprise that it was pretty well filled with Scientists from different parts of the state. Quite a number were present from Louisville, Lexington, and Winchester. The chairman stoutly announced that our time would be strictly limited to fifteen minutes, and asked the spokesman for the Scientists what there was in the bill that they objected to. The subtle character of the bill was manifested in the fact that, although the committee was composed of some of the brightest men and some of the ablest lawyers in the Senate, it was some time before they could seem to understand that the proposed law might be so constructed as to include the spiritual healing work of Christian Science, and thus make it unlawful for the Christian Scientists to discharge their religious duties. He was reminded that a Christian Scientist could no more refuse to pray for one who asked for his prayers than could a member of any other church, and that if his prayer should be answered it would be a case of spiritual healing, which to some might seem to be prohibited by the fifth section of the bill. The attention of the committee was called to the fact that every exertion of the Divine will in the government of the universe, every prayer of a Christian mother's heart, would thus fall within the prohibitions of the bill. That if the Saviour were to come to Kentucky as he came to Palestine, with this bill interpreted to include spiritual healing and enacted into a law, he could be arrested under a warrant taken out by the State Board of Health, and that the seventy who were sent out to heal, and the twelve apostles, were they here to-day, could be sent to prison for doing their beneficent work. These statements appeared to arouse the committee, and they asked a great many questions, but kindly allowed the time thus taken up, in addition to the fifteen minutes assigned for the hearing.

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