Members of the Wisconsin Legislature are weighing the merits of two bills aimed at clarifying the extent to which parents can legally deny, because of their religious beliefs and practices, conventional medical treatment to their sick or injured children.
As the debate over these measures unfolds, lawmakers should not allow the self-serving and dubious claims of a single, small church to shape laws meant to safeguard the health and welfare of our children. That happened once before in Wisconsin, and the results were a public policy debacle. [A column by Shawn Peters, who teaches on UW-Madison’s School of Education]