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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Church: Medical Care Not Banned

By Martin Salazar
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."