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2 Quinnipiac Health L. J. 73 (1998-1999)
On Statutes Depriving a Class of Children of Rights to Medical Care: Can This Discrimination be Litigated?

handle is hein.journals/qhlj2 and id is 79 raw text is: On Statutes Depriving a Class of Children of Rights to Medical Care: Can this Discrimination be Litigated? by Rita Swan, Ph.D.t L Introduction The rights of children have seldom been litigated in the United States. The very concept of children having rights is threatening to many Americans. At present, 191 nations have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States and Somalia are the only nations that have not ratified the Convention.' The U. S. has well-organized, vocal opponents who charge that the treaty threatens family structure and parental rights.2 More than eighty nations specifically mention rights of chil- dren in their constitutions, but not the U. S. The National Task Force on Children's Constitutional Rights and several other or- ganizations advocate an amendment to the U. S. Constitution giving children due process and protective rights.3 The amendment has not, however, been introduced in Congress. U. S. laws fail children in another respect as well. They in- clude hundreds of religious exemptions that deprive a class of children of medical care. This paper will discuss the harm done by religious exemption statutes and the importance of giving children rights to medical care without exception for religious f Rita Swan, Ph.D., President, Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty; Member of Adjunct Faculty, Morningside College. I U.S. Co TirrrE FOR UNICEF, U.N. CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: FREQuENTLY ASKED QUESrIONS (1997). 2 S. Kilbourne, U.S. Failure to Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Playing Politics with Children's Rights, 6 TRANSNAT'L L. & CoNrEMP. PROBS. 437 (1996). 3 The text of the proposed constitutional amendment is as follows: The rights of persons under the age of 18 shall include all the due process and protective rights possessed by those over the age of 18 years. Such rights may be limited only upon demonstration of a compelling state interest, and any such limitation shall be accom- plished by the least intrusive means. Nothing herein shall be construed to diminish any rights of persons under the age of 18 years, nor to preclude the enhancement of the rights of such persons. Letter from C. Gill, to American Academy of Pediatrics (Oct. 20, 1997) (on file with author).

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