Mesa County District Attorney Frank Daniels filed charges after reading more than 500 pages of investigative reports from the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, viewing videotaped interviews, and reviewing information from Mesa County Coroner Dr. Rob Kurtzman, who ruled Amanda's death a homicide. Amanda's death occurred days after the introduction of a bill in the Colorado legislature that would make it easier to prosecute parents who withhold medical treatment from children who are in danger of dying or being disabled. Her death has been cited numerous times in the push to change the law. A loophole in the current Colorado law exempts parents from prosecution if they use faith-healing methods that are recognized as legitimate by the Internal Revenue Service and major insurers. That effectively exempts Christian Science parents but not other faith-healing religions, including the Church of the First Born.
Prosecutors say the exemption muddies the law and makes it difficult to prosecute any cases.
There have been attempts to remove the exemption and clarify the law since it was passed in 1989. Those attempts were shot down under heavy lobbying by Christian Scientists. The current bill has been passed by the House and will be heard in the Senate Health, Environment, Children and Families Committee on Thursday. Pages on this site may not be copied or framed. The site provides information that helps equip Christians to logically present and defend the Christian faith, and that aids non-Christians in their comparison of various religious claims.