The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
PRESENTED BY:
Byron Rushing
_______________
To the
Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the passage of the accompanying bill:
An Act to further religious freedom.
_______________
PETITION OF:
Name: |
District/Address: |
Byron Rushing |
9th Suffolk |
Thomas P. Kennedy |
Second Plymouth and Bristol |
Pam Richardson |
6th Middlesex |
Kay Khan |
11th Middlesex |
Scott P. Brown |
Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex |
Michael A. Costello |
1st Essex |
Viriato Manuel deMacedo |
1st Plymouth |
Steven M. Walsh |
11th Essex |
Robert S. Hargraves |
1st Middlesex |
Jay R. Kaufman |
15th Middlesex |
Louis L. Kafka |
8th Norfolk |
Ellen Story |
3rd Hampshire |
Jeffrey Davis Perry |
5th Barnstable |
Martha M. Walz |
8th Suffolk |
Frank I. Smizik |
15th Norfolk |
Cory Atkins |
14th Middlesex |
James B. Eldridge |
Middlesex and Worcester |
James Arciero |
2nd Middlesex |
Sean Garballey |
23rd Middlesex |
Robert L. Rice, Jr. |
2nd Worcester |
Bradley H. Jones, Jr. |
20th Middlesex |
F. Jay Barrows |
1st Bristol |
Tom Sannicandro |
7th Middlesex |
Robert L. Hedlund |
Plymouth and Norfolk |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand and Nine
_______________
An Act to further religious
freedom.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. “Section 13J of Chapter 265 of the General Laws, as inserted by Chapter 340 of the Acts of 1993, is hereby further amended by inserting after paragraph (b) the following paragraph:--
(c) It shall be an affirmative defense to any
prosecution under this section that the parent, guardian, or other person
legally charged with the care or custody of such child reasonably provided
to the child spiritual treatment through prayer in lieu of medical
treatment.”
SECTION 2: “Section 13L of Chapter 265 of the General Laws, as inserted by Chapter 322 of the Acts of 2002, is hereby amended by inserting after the final paragraph the following paragraph:--
It shall be an affirmative defense to any prosecution under this section that the parent, guardian, or other person legally charged with the care or custody of such child reasonably provided to the child spiritual treatment through prayer in lieu of medical treatment.”