Regarding proposed changes to a controversial Idaho law that allows parents to deny their children life-saving medical care for religious reasons

Just before Johnson introduced his bill, Dan Sevy, a member of the Followers of Christ Church that has been at the center of the debate over whether to change the law, introduced a bill of his own.

The bill would add to the state’s law on authorizing emergency medical treatment a line saying courts will consider whether a child is being treated by any other type of alternative medicine, like faith healing, before ordering emergency medical treatment. That law already instructs the court to consider whether a family believes in faith healing in making such a determination, and Sevy’s bill would leave that intact.

Bills are generally introduced by lawmakers, but non-lawmakers like Sevy are on occasion allowed to introduce bills in the Statehouse.