Trent Clyde Barnes was only alive in this world for a matter of hours. However, his death helped to set in place sweeping legal changes in required medical treatment for newborns and children.
Trent Clyde Barnes was born on September 30, 1982 and passed away that same day. During Trent's birth, his brain was critically bruised and massive internal bleeding resulted. He died just hours after his birth when the resulting bleeding seeped down the brain stem and choked off nerves that controlled his breathing. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was "birth trauma with complications." The medical examiner also believed that Trent's outcome would have been "completely different had he received medical care." His parents, Troy Lee Barnes and Brenda Nadine Barnes, along with two midwives, Olivi Hays and Euna Fitzjarrel, refused to call for medical aide based on religious teachings from the Church of the First Born; it was church teaching to provide spiritual care instead of medical care.
All four individuals were charged with Manslaughter in Oklahoma County court in November of 1982. The trial was postponed due to a similar case being played out in neighboring Garfield county. Due to the outcome in that similar case, which found that state law provided parents legal protection should they not provide medical care on religious grounds, the charges against the four were ultimately dropped in June of 1983.
However, the uproar at both the state and local level prompted the Oklahoma legislature to make sweeping changes in the current laws, amending various provisons that now placed child welfare and necessary medical trentment as a priority when countered against certain religious beliefs.
Assistant District Attorney Joe Reinke said he thought the prosecutors in Oklahoma and Garfield counties had made their point by filing the cases. "Obviously, it's our feeling it was an offensive statute and it turned out to be their (the Legislature's) feeling too, because they amended it," he said.
If such a case arises under the new law, "it'd be a whole new ballgame and we would prosecute," he said.
The prosecutor added, "Now we're in a position where we can protect the health of children. That's worth the effort."
Trent Clyde Barnes was born on September 30, 1982 and passed away that same day. During Trent's birth, his brain was critically bruised and massive internal bleeding resulted. He died just hours after his birth when the resulting bleeding seeped down the brain stem and choked off nerves that controlled his breathing. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was "birth trauma with complications." The medical examiner also believed that Trent's outcome would have been "completely different had he received medical care." His parents, Troy Lee Barnes and Brenda Nadine Barnes, along with two midwives, Olivi Hays and Euna Fitzjarrel, refused to call for medical aide based on religious teachings from the Church of the First Born; it was church teaching to provide spiritual care instead of medical care.
All four individuals were charged with Manslaughter in Oklahoma County court in November of 1982. The trial was postponed due to a similar case being played out in neighboring Garfield county. Due to the outcome in that similar case, which found that state law provided parents legal protection should they not provide medical care on religious grounds, the charges against the four were ultimately dropped in June of 1983.
However, the uproar at both the state and local level prompted the Oklahoma legislature to make sweeping changes in the current laws, amending various provisons that now placed child welfare and necessary medical trentment as a priority when countered against certain religious beliefs.
Assistant District Attorney Joe Reinke said he thought the prosecutors in Oklahoma and Garfield counties had made their point by filing the cases. "Obviously, it's our feeling it was an offensive statute and it turned out to be their (the Legislature's) feeling too, because they amended it," he said.
If such a case arises under the new law, "it'd be a whole new ballgame and we would prosecute," he said.
The prosecutor added, "Now we're in a position where we can protect the health of children. That's worth the effort."
Trent Clyde Barnes was only alive in this world for a matter of hours. However, his death helped to set in place sweeping legal changes in required medical treatment for newborns and children.
Trent Clyde Barnes was born on September 30, 1982 and passed away that same day. During Trent's birth, his brain was critically bruised and massive internal bleeding resulted. He died just hours after his birth when the resulting bleeding seeped down the brain stem and choked off nerves that controlled his breathing. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was "birth trauma with complications." The medical examiner also believed that Trent's outcome would have been "completely different had he received medical care." His parents, Troy Lee Barnes and Brenda Nadine Barnes, along with two midwives, Olivi Hays and Euna Fitzjarrel, refused to call for medical aide based on religious teachings from the Church of the First Born; it was church teaching to provide spiritual care instead of medical care.
All four individuals were charged with Manslaughter in Oklahoma County court in November of 1982. The trial was postponed due to a similar case being played out in neighboring Garfield county. Due to the outcome in that similar case, which found that state law provided parents legal protection should they not provide medical care on religious grounds, the charges against the four were ultimately dropped in June of 1983.
However, the uproar at both the state and local level prompted the Oklahoma legislature to make sweeping changes in the current laws, amending various provisons that now placed child welfare and necessary medical trentment as a priority when countered against certain religious beliefs.
Assistant District Attorney Joe Reinke said he thought the prosecutors in Oklahoma and Garfield counties had made their point by filing the cases. "Obviously, it's our feeling it was an offensive statute and it turned out to be their (the Legislature's) feeling too, because they amended it," he said.
If such a case arises under the new law, "it'd be a whole new ballgame and we would prosecute," he said.
The prosecutor added, "Now we're in a position where we can protect the health of children. That's worth the effort."
Trent Clyde Barnes was born on September 30, 1982 and passed away that same day. During Trent's birth, his brain was critically bruised and massive internal bleeding resulted. He died just hours after his birth when the resulting bleeding seeped down the brain stem and choked off nerves that controlled his breathing. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was "birth trauma with complications." The medical examiner also believed that Trent's outcome would have been "completely different had he received medical care." His parents, Troy Lee Barnes and Brenda Nadine Barnes, along with two midwives, Olivi Hays and Euna Fitzjarrel, refused to call for medical aide based on religious teachings from the Church of the First Born; it was church teaching to provide spiritual care instead of medical care.
All four individuals were charged with Manslaughter in Oklahoma County court in November of 1982. The trial was postponed due to a similar case being played out in neighboring Garfield county. Due to the outcome in that similar case, which found that state law provided parents legal protection should they not provide medical care on religious grounds, the charges against the four were ultimately dropped in June of 1983.
However, the uproar at both the state and local level prompted the Oklahoma legislature to make sweeping changes in the current laws, amending various provisons that now placed child welfare and necessary medical trentment as a priority when countered against certain religious beliefs.
Assistant District Attorney Joe Reinke said he thought the prosecutors in Oklahoma and Garfield counties had made their point by filing the cases. "Obviously, it's our feeling it was an offensive statute and it turned out to be their (the Legislature's) feeling too, because they amended it," he said.
If such a case arises under the new law, "it'd be a whole new ballgame and we would prosecute," he said.
The prosecutor added, "Now we're in a position where we can protect the health of children. That's worth the effort."
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