Article May 16, 1988 Issue

Letters to the Press FROM THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION

Important issues regarding health and healing

Recently the Committee on Publication was asked to comment on a question of importance to all concerned with the health and well-being of children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics had released a statement calling for the removal of laws accommodating the practice of spiritual healing for children. The North American newspaper chain, Gannett, then asked a representative of that organization and the Manager of our Church's Committee on Publication, Nathan A. Talbot, to comment on the question: Should parents be allowed to withhold medical treatment for a child on religious grounds?

Dr. Norman Fost, chairman of the AAP's Committee on Bioethics, maintained that the government should require medical treatment for all children. His view presupposed that spiritual treatment must be accounted ineffectual in serious cases and that conventional medical treatment should be accepted as the standard for society.

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