08/30/2026
For decades, Idaho law has allowed parents who belong to the faith-healing sect Followers of Christ to pray rather than seek medical care as their children die.
Lawmakers in Oregon, where similar religious groups exist, removed the state’s faith-healing exception to child abuse laws nearly 30 years ago. More parents chose to allow their children to be seen by medical professionals after the change, Oregon authorities said.
But Idaho lawmakers have chosen a different path. They have repeatedly rejected efforts to dial back Idaho’s exemption, instead codifying “parental rights” legislation to further limit the role of anyone but a parent when it comes to children’s health and safety.
ProPublica gathered death records in five Idaho counties and shared them with more than a dozen pediatricians and birthing specialists. At least 15 babies and children from this faith-healing sect died from 2015 through 2025 from illnesses that doctors could have successfully treated, the experts concluded. That estimate is almost certainly an undercount.
The records also show at least five sets of parents have lost multiple children, a phenomenon that has not been previously reported.
None of the parents responded to letters or text messages from ProPublica, and one declined to comment during a phone call.
Asked why God would not want children to live full and healthy lives, one patriarch explained that the Followers believe that life on Earth is “a preparing ground” and said the Book of James tells people to “be afflicted and mourn and weep.”
“It isn’t necessarily that we’re supposed to have a joyous life here,” he said.
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