The impending high-profile trial of parents charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the death of their daughter has sparked new debate in a long-running battle over faith healing in the United States.

Faith-healing communities around the country are worried about losing their right to treat their children according to their religious beliefs.

Two other trials over faith healing-related deaths are also being closely watched.

About 300 children have died in the United States in the last 25 years after medical care was withheld on religious grounds, said Rita Swan, executive director of Children’s Health Care Is a Legal Duty, a group based in Iowa that advocates punishment for parents who do not seek medical help when their children need it.

Criminal codes in 30 states, including Wisconsin, provide some form of protection for practitioners of faith healing in cases of child neglect and other matters, protection that Ms. Swan’s group opposes.

In an effort to separate itself from the tragic death of young Madeline Kara Neumann of Wisconsin whose parents chose to pray over her rather than seek medical help, the local Christian Science Church has been meeting with state legislators to revise a state law that currently exempts faith healing practices from prosecution for child neglect and abuse.

But one expert warned that any measure drafted by Christian Scientists would aim to protect only Christian Scientists, not children.

Dale and Leilani Neumann both face second-degree reckless homicide charges in the March 23 death of their daughter, Madeline Kara Neumann. A coroner’s report said Kara, as she was known, died from complications of untreated diabetes.

The Neumann treated her with prayer rather than with traditional medicine.

A judge today ruled the reckless homicide charges stand against the parents of Madeline Neumann.

They are accused of praying instead of seeking a doctor’s care as their 11-year-old daughter died.

Previously an attorney argued that if the case goes to trial, the courts will wrongly become entangled in constitutionally protected religious matters.

A judge is expected to decide this week whether to dismiss reckless homicide charges against parents accused of praying instead of seeking a doctor’s care as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes.

Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard has said that courts in two states have tossed out similar cases while courts in two other states allowed them to go to trial.

In an effort to counter a motion by Dale and Leilani Neumann to have second-degree intentional homicide charges dismissed against them, Marathon County prosecutors this week have filed a legal argument that cites an Oregon case involving a parent praying for his son while he died of acute leukemia.

The couple were charged after their 11-year-old daughter, Madeline Kara Neumann, died March 23 from complications of undiagnosed diabetes. After she fell ill, the Neumanns reportedly chose to pray for Kara’s recovery rather than seek a doctor’s care.

A couple who face criminal charges in their daughter’s death from diabetes have closed their coffee shop and are being evicted from the building, records show.

The Neumanns began struggling to pay the $1,840 monthly rent soon after Kara’s death when the shop was closed for eight days.

A judge says he is caught between a “rock and a hard place” in trying to decide whether to dismiss charges accusing parents of reckless homicide for praying while their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes.

Dale and Leilani Neumann of rural Weston are charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the Easter Sunday death of their daughter, Madeline.

The judge will issue his decision later this month.

If a couple accused of killing their 11-year-old daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care goes to trial, the courts will wrongly become entangled in constitutionally protected religious matters, an attorney argued Tuesday.

Defense attorneys asked a judge Tuesday to drop charges against a town of Weston couple who chose to pray rather than seek medical attention for their dying daughter.

Dale and Leilani Neumann pleaded not guilty during a court appearance to felony charges of second-degree reckless homicide.

Prosecutors contend Kara could not speak, eat, drink, walk or breathe easily for about 48 hours before she died – giving her parents enough warning to seek medical help. The parents failed in their legal duty to care for the child, prosecutors have claimed.

The parents charged with reckless homicide for praying while their 11-year-old daughter died of diabetes are the first people in Wisconsin accused of such a crime, according to a national group that monitors faith-based abuse and neglect of children.

The Neumanns are charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the Easter Sunday death of their daughter, Madeline, at the family’s rural Weston home.

The Neumanns each face a second-degree reckless homicide charge in the March 23 death of their daughter Madeline Kara Neumann. Kara, 11, died Easter Sunday from complications of undiagnosed diabetes. Her parents chose to pray instead of seeking medical help as their daughter grew progressively ill.

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