A couple says they should not lose their children because they made a fatal decision to not seek medical treatment for a newborn baby with jaundice.
The couple says they made the decision not to seek treatment based on their religious beliefs. They say their right to do that without losing their other children is protected by a state law. And they say a jury should be told that if their child custody case goes to trial.
Kayla Crino with the Ingham County Prosecutor’s office says the law does not protect parents who make reckless decisions regarding a child’s welfare.
“And, ultimately, because of that decision to do absolutely nothing, the child died. This is child abuse in the first degree.”
Because the Supreme Court is being asked to rule on a jury instruction, the custody case would still go back to the lower court regardless of the decision.