GEORGIA MEDICAL NEGLECT STATUTES
CIVIL MEDICAL NEGLECT STATUTE
No child receiving spiritual treatment in accordance with a recognized form of religious healing will be considered abused or neglected for that reason alone.
Georgia Law Provides:
Georgia Code §19-7-5(j)
No child who in good faith is being treated solely by spiri¬tual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall, for that reason alone, be considered to be an “abused” child.
Georgia Code §49-5-180(5), 49-5-40(a), and 19-7-5(b) (The latter is in the laws governing reporting of child abuse and neglect.)
CRIMINAL MEDICAL NEGLECT STATUTE
There is a religious exemption to the criminal liability of child abuse for parents prescribing spiritual treatment in accordance with a recognized form of religious healing.
Georgia Law Provides:
A person commits the offense of contributing to the. . . deprivation of a minor when such person:(3) Willfully commits an act or acts or willfully fails to act when such act or omission would cause a minor to be found to be a dependent child as such is defined in Code Section 15-11-2, relating to juvenile proceedings. Georgia Code §16-12-1(b)(3).
In 1902, the Georgia Supreme Court found that a father had not committed a misdemeanor after refusing to give his child medicine for religious reasons. Justice v. State, 42 S.E. 1013, 1014 (1902).