According to the article, Madeline's parents did not know she was sick. It was reported that she had been seen around town and appeared to be a healthy 11-year old.  Her parents are known in the community and the police chief noted that "they are not crazy people."  That they were unaware she was sick contrasts with the medical examiner's opinion that the young girl would have been showing symptoms for the past 6 months.

A follow up article printed today indicates that the parents prayed with David Eells from Unleavened Bread Ministries even as they were following the ambulance to the hospital.  In a statement released on their website, Eells defends his actions, saying:

We do not dictate to people about whether to go to the doctor or not but agree with their faith as the Bible says:  {Matthew 18:19} Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.  We are not commanded in scripture to send people to the doctor but to meet their needs through prayer and faith.  As anyone here in the ministry will tell you, we are not against doctors for those who have their faith there and never condemn or restrict them in any way.  But we know that the best one to trust in for healing is Jesus Christ.

Obviously, it is the intersection of freedom to practice religion and child welfare that gets out attention when something like this happens.  The case is being investigated by the local police as well as the Marathon County Department of Social Services.  There is no easy answer here, with even the law providing conflicting information, according to the newspaper article.

Under Wisconsin statutes, parents can't be accused of abuse or neglect if the sole reason for the injury is that they relied on prayer, Fost said. But Robyn S. Shapiro, an attorney who is professor of bioethics and director of the Bioethics Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin, said abuse or neglect can include "failure to appropriately respond or supply medical care to your kid."

So, is the failure of the parents to get their child medical attention fast enough neglect on their part?  As a person of faith as well as a child welfare professional, I know there are no easy answers.  What I do know for sure is that Madeline and her family need our prayers now just as much as they did on Easter Sunday.