This policy brief, produced by Children's Healthcare is a Legal Duty (CHILD) and the Secular Coalition of New York on behalf of the End The Defense coalition, explains the language and legislative history of the affirmative defense to child medical neglect at New York Penal Law Section 260.15.
The brief then presents a well-documented legal case that
- the defense is not required by federal policy
- the defense is not necessitated by the constitutional rights of parents
- the defense violates children's constitutional rights to equal protection of the law
- the defense unconstitutionally favors certain beliefs over others
- the defense endangers children.
