The Maine Supreme Court is reviewing a lower-court order that bars a mother from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church after the child’s father claimed the religious environment caused psychological harm.

The district court restricted nearly all religious activity for the girl after an expert witness described the family’s evangelical church as “cultic” and linked its teachings to the child’s anxiety and panic attacks.

Liberty Counsel, representing the mother, argues that the judge showed hostility toward religion and violated constitutional protections for a fit parent’s right to guide a child’s religious upbringing.

Justices pressed both sides on how to balance religious freedom with claims of potential harm during oral arguments, The New American has reported.

The court’s written decision is pending, while the mother maintains the restrictions are extreme, unconstitutional, and preventing her daughter from attending church or engaging in any religious activities.