On Monday, Makayla Sault, an 11-year-old from Ontario and member of the Mississauga tribe of the New Credit First Nation, died from acute lymphoblastic leukemia after suffering a stroke the previous day. This would normally not be big news in Canada or the U.S.—except for the fact that Makayla's death was probably preventable and thus unnecessary.

Makayla died not only from leukemia, but from faith—the faith of her parents, who are pastors. They not only inculcated her with Christianity, but, on religious grounds, removed her from chemotherapy to put her in a dubious institute of “alternative medicine” in Florida. At the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Makayla was treated with a combination of raw food, vitamin C injections, and “cold laser therapy,” none of which have been shown to have the slightest effect on leukemia. (The Institute is being sued by former staff for operating a “scam.”) Her doctors say that if she had stayed on chemotherapy and standard treatment, she would have had a 75 percent chance of survival.

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The problem exists in the U.S. as well. According to the National District Attorney Association, 38 of our 50 states have religious exemptions for child abuse written into their codes of civil law, another 15 provide such exemptions for criminal misdemeanors, 17 have exemptions for felony crimes, and five (Idaho, Ohio, Iowa, West Virginia, and Arkansas) have exemptions for manslaughter or murder. In other words, if you kill or injure your child by withholding medical care on religious grounds, it’s difficult to prosecute you—much more difficult than if you did the same thing without religious reasons. And even when prosecutions of religious parents occur, judges and juries are reluctant to convict, or they impose only light sentences—sometimes probation without supervision. This is part of the unconscionable and unwarranted respect for faith that permeates our nation, and it’s caused the death of thousands of children.

more...https://newrepublic.com/article/120823/canada-lets-makayla-sault-die-leukemia-over-religious-sensitivity