Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
NY Social Service Department Suing To Get Heart Surgery For Amish Child
WWNY TV News reported yesterday on the ongoing trial in St. Lawrence County, New York Family Court of an Amish couple who are refusing on religious and cultural grounds to allow their 17-month old son to have heart surgery. The county Department of Social Services has filed neglect charges, asking the court to remove the child from the custody of his parents, Gideon and Barbara Hershberger, so he can have a hole in his heart surgically repaired. Without surgery, the condition could be fatal for young Eli Hershberger.