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The Philadelphia couple who were charged with murder in the death of their 7-month-old son after they refused to seek medical treatment for his pneumonia because of their religious beliefs have pleaded no contest and will likely spend 20 to 40 years in prison. The couple, Herbert and Catherine Schaible, gained notoriety after their baby died as they prayed for his bacterial pneumonia to go away rather than bringing him to a doctor. He died after several days of what experts say must have been extreme distress. What's even more utterly tragic was that this wasn't the first time this had happened!
The couple were already on 10 years probation and ordered by a judge to seek medical treatment for their children after their 2-year-old son, Kent, had come down with the same virus and died the exact same way -- as his parents prayed over him and refused to get him medical care. Unbelievable!!!
No doubt the fact that the couple had seven other children contributed to their lack of prison time the first time around, because without parents, there would have been seven orphans. But their idiocy just put those kids in danger even more, and sure enough, they went ahead and had another kid and the same thing happened!
This is the kind of thing that just makes you want to pull your hair out about the justice system, but unfortunately there are no laws about who can procreate if they are free citizens.
Is it tragic that seven more of their children now don't have parents? Not in my book. Which is the book of common sense, not that other book. The book of common sense says these kids may never reach adulthood with these parents, who wouldn't take them to a doctor no matter what happens to them.
I don't know where in the Bible it says you shouldn't bring your kids to a doctor -- and I don't think anyone should blindly follow a collection of tracts penned thousands of years ago -- but if religion doesn't allow you to take a gun to your kids, it shouldn't allow you to blatantly ignore it when they're dying either.
Hopefully, the other children now have a chance at life, provided they aren't handed over to people with the same stubborn belief system.
Do you think they belong in prison?
Image via Philadelphia Police
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