Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Church: Medical Care Not Banned
Journal Staff Writer
The parents of a newborn who died in an Albuquerque hotel in June could have reached out for medical intervention without violating their church's teachings, the head of their church said Monday.
Samuel and Tammy Kaufman did not call for medical assistance while Tammy Kaufman was giving birth to twins in a hotel room on June 26, even as one of the newborns struggled to breathe, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Instead, members of The Church of God, who were in Albuquerque for a conference, gathered inside the room in prayer, and one member performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the struggling infant. Despite the effort, baby Moses Kaufman died.
The Kaufmans told police their son's death was "God's will" and refused medical treatment for the surviving boy or his mother.
A former pastor in The Church of God told the Journal earlier this month that the church was unbending in avoiding medical care and hospital birthing.
But Stephen E. Smith, the general overseer or chief bishop of the church, based in Cleveland, Tenn., said that's simply not true.
"The Church of God has never made a statement concerning where children are to be born," Smith said in an e-mailed statement to the Journal. "Some parents choose to have their children born at home, and some choose to have theirs born in a hospital. Members of our church are free to follow their convictions about this."
Smith added that while the church stands firm in its belief in divine healing, it has never forbidden its members from seeking medical help.
"In our General Assembly last year a resolution was passed which included a statement reaffirming this position," Smith said. "The resolution states, '... the church upholds the biblical teaching that divine healing is provided for all in the atonement, but does not teach that it is a sin to visit a doctor or to take medicine.'"
Smith did not respond to an e-mailed request for an interview, and the Kaufmans, who live in Andrews, Texas, have not responded to requests for interviews from the Journal.
According to Albuquerque police reports, the couple had planned to give birth at home, but Tammy Kaufman unexpectedly went into labor at the Sandia Courtyard Hotel and Convention Center.
The Office of the Medical Investigator has yet to rule on a cause and manner of death for baby Moses Kaufman.
The initial autopsy was inconclusive and additional tests were being run.
"It's still pending," OMI spokeswoman Amy Boule said Monday.
Pat Davis, a spokesman for the District Attorney's Office, said his office is still waiting for the OMI report.
"We are withholding any prosecution decisions until we can get a determination on the cause of death from OMI, which will shed some light onto whether the death could have been prevented, possibly with the intervention of medical care," Davis said. "Right now we just don't have that."
Wednesday, July 29
New Article
Wednesday, July 22
Infant Death Investigation Continues, Co-Worker Reports Midwife At Birth 7/21/09
Infant Death Investigation Continues, Co-Worker Reports Midwife At Birth 7/21/09
July 21, 2009
Andrews, Texas - New details tonight on an Andrews couple being investigated following the death of their newborn son.
In an email to CBS 7 news, a co-worker of Sam Kaufman says there was a certified midwife, who had been montioring the entire pregnancy, present during the unexpected birth inside the Albuquerque hotel room.
The co-worker told us, "Mr. and Mrs. Kaufman were simply trying to have a natural childbirth, something that has been done since the beginning of time before doctors, hospitals and EMT services were ever an option."
There was no mention of a midwife in the affidavit we received from the Albuquerque Police Department.
We called police to double-check they confirm that no midwife is listed in any police report.
The Kaufmans are under investigation by the district attorney for not seeking medical help after the premature birth of their newborn twins.
According the police affidavit, Mr. Kaufman told police it was against their religion to seek medical assistance, saying in the affadavit it was "God's will" for their son to die.
http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=13787
Latest News Reports from CBS
Church Leader and CPS Spokesperson React to Andrews Newborn Death 7/20/09
CBS 7 News
bberman@cbs7.com
July 20, 2009
Andrews, Texas -
An Andrews couple is under investigation tonight by Albuquerque Police after the death of their newborn infant.
According to court documents, Sam and Tammy Kaufman gave birth to twin boys in their Albuquerque hotel room.
Both twins were born alive but had severe breathing problems from the start.
The Kaufmans say they prayed for the newborn twins but did not call emergency responders for medical help.
Police were contacted three hours after the birth when the first-born twin died.
The affidavit says the Kaufmans told police it was against their religion to seek medical assistance saying it was "God's Will" for their newborn to die.
The case brings up questions about the classic issue of child welfare laws and religious beliefs.
"If I firmly believe something and believe this is God - then I wouldn't back down for a law," says Pastor Chad Kirk.
He learned of the Kaufman's newborn death today. He leads the Grandview Church of God in Odessa... a church with different beliefs than the Church of God that rejects medical help from man.
"I think there could have been more done to save the life of the child. But then again, was it their right to believe that way? I feel it was if that's the way they want to believe," says Kirk.
Many believe in the powers of divine healing... a mass and healing ceremony took place in Midland this Spring. But what about life-threatening situations that normally demand immediate medical attention? Is prayer enough?
"We believe in God as a divine healer but we also believe that all healing comes from God. Whether it comes through a miracle or a physician's hands, it comes from God," says Kirk.
The Texas Child Protective Services department confronted similar issues working the FLDS case. Spokesperson Marleigh Meisner weighed in on the topic of religion versus law.
"We certainly respect and honor a parent's rights to religion and their right to raise their children in the religion they prefer. If however we receive an allegation of abuse or neglect and it meets the criteria, we will conduct our investigation", says Meisner.
Investigators in New Mexico will have to determine whether the Kaufmans and others neglected the newborn when they gathered in prayer as the baby struggled to breathe and then lay motionless.
"We know that children must have their medical needs taken care of and often times when parents fail to meet their children's medical needs that does warrant an investigation by CPS," says Meisner.
While Pastor Kirk respects religious freedoms, he sees the need for change.
"More churches ought to encourage their congregations that going to a hospital is not disobeying God, it's not a lack of faith in God, it's a tool that I feel God has blessed us with," says Kirk.
After the newborn appeared to be dead, one of the other Church of God members at the conference performed CPR on the infant - seemingly a violation of the group's denial of medical help from man.
http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=13762
Latest news report.
Andrews Couple Under Investigation After Newborn Infant Dies 7/20/09
CBS 7 News
July 20, 2009
Andrews, Texas - An Andrews couple is under investigation tonight by Albuquerque, New Mexico police, in the death of their newborn son.
Sam and Tammy Kaufman are well known in Andrews, Sam is the News Editor with the Andrews County News and Pastor of the Andrews Church of God.
On June 25, the couple was attending a church convention in Albuquerque when Tammy went into unexpected labor, and gave birth to twin boys in their hotel room.
According to the affidavit, both twins were alive at birth, but they also had severe breathing problems.
The Kaufmans and other members of the church gathered to pray over the twins, but did not call medical or emergency responders.
The earliest born twin stopped breathing and was presumed dead, and that's when emergency responders were contacted - 3 hours after the birth.
The affidavit says the Kaufmans refused medical treatment for the surviving twin or the mother, saying that they do not trust "man" and only "god" and that it was "god's will" for their son to die.
However, despite the Kaufman's wishes, the surviving twin was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where he still is today, listed as being in satisfactory condition.
The Kaufmans are still under investigation today by Albuquerque police, but no charges have been filed at this time.
We'll continue to keep a close eye on this story, and bring you the latest developments as they come our way.
http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=13748
Sunday, July 12
Albuquerque Journal
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Probe Into Infant Boy's Death Continues
Journal Staff Writer
Church members who gathered at an Albuquerque hotel last month shared a rigorous belief in "divine healing" and a reliance on home birthing, a former pastor in The Church of God said.
Medical and law enforcement personnel are continuing to examine details surrounding the death of an infant boy born during a church conference at the hotel.
Members of The Church of God prayed and tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the boy but did not contact emergency personnel until about three hours after the birth of the boy and his twin brother, police said.
The boys' parents, Samuel and Tammy Kaufman, told police that the infant's death was "God's will" and refused medical treatment for the surviving boy or his mother.
Danny Page, a member of the The Church of God from 1997 to 2004, said the church was unbending in avoiding medical care and hospital birthing.
"They are staunchly against going to doctors," said Page, who was previously a pastor for The Church of God in North Carolina. "I didn't take so much as an aspirin for years. I did not go to a doctor for anything."
The church's insistence on home births took hold several years ago under the church's current leadership, said Page, who now lives in Nashville, Tenn.
"It stemmed from the idea that if we don't go to doctors, then why do we go to doctors to have our children?" he said.
The Office of the Medical Investigator on Friday had not ruled on the manner or cause of the infant's death. OMI spokeswoman Amy Boule said an autopsy proved inconclusive and additional testing is needed.
Albuquerque police and a spokesman for the District Attorney's Office said any decisions about criminal charges depend on the results of the OMI reports.
The Church of God, based in Cleveland, Tenn., is led by Stephen E. Smith, who is called "general overseer" or chief bishop of the church. Smith and his wife, Vicki Smith have not responded to requests for interviews. Both were in Albuquerque for the conference, a police report said.
The church calls itself "The Church of God" to distinguish itself from two other related churches, both of which are also based in Cleveland, Tenn.
The Church of God formed in 1993 when its members broke away from the Church of God of Prophesy, itself a 1923 breakaway from an older and larger church called Church of God.
The Rev. Ronald Mizell, pastor of the Church of God in Albuquerque, said that his church is not affiliated with Smith's church and that he is not aware of any churches in Albuquerque that are.
Page said he left The Church of God in 2004 after he became frustrated with the demands and strict rules of its leaders.
"It was very, very cultish," said Page, who now is pastor of a nondenominational church in Nashville. "They constantly pound home this message that they are the only church recognized by God."
Page said he and his wife delivered three of their six children at home. The couple's third child was delivered by Theresa Letcher, a church member and midwife from Fancy Farm, Ky.
An Albuquerque police report indicates that Letcher was staying at the Sandia Courtyard the morning that Tammy Kaufman gave birth.
Letcher said the Kaufmans have asked her not to discuss the incident.
"I did speak with the parents of the babies, and they have requested that everybody just leave them alone for a little while," Letcher said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Phone messages left at the Kaufmans' home in Andrews, Texas, were not returned.
Albuquerque police reports provide some details about the boy's death:
• The Kaufmans called police about 8:45 a.m. June 26 and reported that Tammy Kaufman, 33, had given birth to twins earlier that morning in her room at Sandia Courtyard Hotel and Convention Center in Albuquerque. One of the twins had died.
• When police arrived at the couple's hotel room, Samuel Kaufman, 42, was holding his deceased son. The couple had planned to give birth at home, but Tammy Kaufman unexpectedly went into labor at the hotel.
• Samuel Kaufman told police the first child born had opened his eyes and appeared to be breathing at birth. But later, the boy "was reported to be in distress and was struggling to breathe," Albuquerque police Detective C. Romero wrote in a search warrant. "Church members went to (the Kaufman's room) and started to pray."
• Between 6:40 a.m. and 7 a.m., church members noticed the boy was not breathing. One man also tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The combination of religion and medicine often present legal and ethical dilemmas, particularly when children are involved, ethicists at the University of New Mexico said.
"It's no crime to deliver a baby in a hotel room," said Dr. David Bennahum, a UNM physician and ethics professor.
But rescue personnel should be called if a child is in distress.
"If the baby is gasping for breath, you should call a doctor," Bennahum said.
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