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(Salt Lake City-AP) -- A bill to give parents near-absolute power over life-and-death medical decisions for their children deadlocked at the Utah Capitol today.
It's the first so-called Parker Jensen bill to come up for a vote.
Parker Jensen's parents led a highly publicized and successful battle last summer against state efforts to gain custody and force chemotherapy on the boy for cancer.
Senator Dave Thomas' bill was a major shift for state policy. The Weber County Republican would have put parents' choice over the health or safety of a child.
Opponents said it just went too far.
The Senate health committee tied four-to-four on the bill, defeating it for now.
The bill was opposed by the child-welfare agency, the attorney general's office, an association of prosecutors and the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
