Children in a Faith-Healing Sect Keep Dying. The State Lets It Happen.

Reporting Highlights Death After Death: Almost every year since 2015, Idaho children in a faith-healing sect have died of treatable conditions such as pneumonia and bacterial infections that turned to sepsis. Church Doctrine: Former members of the Followers of Christ sect say parents are pressured to follow doctrine that forbids medical care. Those who stray risk shunning, they said. No Legal Pressure: Oregon officials say after the state put legal boundaries on faith healing, more parents sought care for kids. Idaho, by contrast, has kept its faith-healing protections. These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. A sheriff’s deputy opens the door of an Idaho farmhouse where a newborn baby has just died. It’s almost 10 p.m., but the house is filled w