Canadian internet petition calling to make it illegal to refuse a blood transfusion
Jean-Claude Lavoie, a 26 year old Canadian Jehovah’s Witness, died in December 2006 after refusing a blood transfusion while being treated for an intestinal tumour, the Canadian TQS television network reported.
Former Jehovah’s Witness Jonathan Lavoie, Jean-Claude’s brother, has since launched an internet petition (written in French) calling on the federal government to make it illegal for a person to refuse treatment on religious grounds.
“The Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons,” Jonathan Lavoie writes on the petition’s website. “This creates enormous stress for the family.”
Jonathan maintains that his brother would still be alive if he had received a transfusion.
But Jean-Claude’s father told TQS he is willing to accept his son’s decision: “At the beginning it was anticipated that in his case they would be able to operate without a transfusion, but there were complications. It’s unfortunate, but it came to that. It’s important to respect Jean-Claude’s choice.”
You are the sick one!
to Zero,
you totally made my point. Typically you try to pass yourself as the “good” christian bragging higher moral and saying that I’m bitter, malicious and whatever. I’m not but if you think so no problema.
The point is that when people slam you using their own words they are bitter, evil, etc.
When you use bible verses to sweet-talk me and others into believing that we are children of the devil, dogs that’s ok.
No wonder you belong to that nazi-terrorist cult known as the Tower of All Terrors supposedly guided by the heathn god jueoeahvaueh or yhwh.
I also think that people like you dying and drooling to see billions of human beings butchered at Armageddon by your sex-freak cuckolded mis-god only because they refuse to be as non-thinking as you are so that you can inherit your sickdom is really murderous thinking.
But as you’ll see, staying with the Towers of All Terrors rather than Armageddon you’ll only get Anal-geddon…I mean, unless you’re one of the Brooklyn bosses or somebody that cashes in on the faith. But if you’re just rank-and-file…good luck.
And by the way, the bible is worthless in terms of making people better as I saw in my my years among the juoevauah witlesses. It has only served the ends of those who have perpetrated the sum total of the evil throughout history.
hi
“Not receiving blood transfusions has nothing remotely to do with these passages. Refusing blood transfusions is indicative of Watchtower teaching, not the Bible.”
-Andy De Mers
Lets read Acts 15:29 …”to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood…”
Abstain- to refrain fom an action or practice.
Taken from Webster,s New Dictionary of the English Language.
That scripture means to stay away from it period.
No excuses. Furthermore it has been proven that blood is harmful to the human body, your body views it as a foreign “item”. You body is made for your blood, and yours only. God want you to take care of your body, since it is a gift from him. Not doing so is disrespectful. Isaiah 48:17 and 18.
I do appreciate your humility, and your lack of abusive speech. A scripture that you might find interesting is 2 Peter 3: 16 and 17.
To my friend Otto Marconi, I thank you for your honest
reply. Me having no education really hurt, but I am sure I will get over it. It shows by your action, in speach, that you dont apply bible counsle. If you did, you would not be so harsh. In James 3:17 and 18 it tells on how someone ought to act. Let me tell you, “Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those making peace.” Look at your comment than that scripture and see if you follow that. In Ephesians 4: 31 and 32 it tells you to let ” all maliciousness bitterness… abusive speech be taken away from you.” Im not judging you for I am not one to judge, but nonetheless your actions prove who you are. Mathew 7:20. By the way my friend, its not what the watchtower says it what the bible says and blood belongs to God not man, you have no right to eat, use, or whatever you want. Leviticus 7:26 and 27. Bottom line God is boss, Psalm 100:3. If you dont like it then you know where u stand, just face it. John 8:44 and 47. If you want to talk in humbleness I will listen to your argument, otherwise I have no need of hearing your hurtful tongue. ” Do not give what is holy to dogs..” Mathew 7:6.
Well i do work at a Hospital for one year now here in Greece, and i have more than many reasons to hate blood bottles. I now see blood as a fast patch up tool for the surgeons. ONe guy might do it in an hour, the other might do it in three, blood gives room for errors, and if thats an emergency i dont know how that room temprature blood will make an ill person feel good again… Especially with most people here have a bad lifestyle – hence, blood for kicks.
We even have a guy here with hepatites that gives blood every 6 motnhs just to take the bonus 2 day leave from his work !! Oh and you should see what kind of people are organising the blood collection days. THeir face grimaces like they are our saviours – “oh look i am saving the world by taking blood for free and do good for the world, and i take all the credit”.
Blood alternatives were used from WorldWar 2 in the KOrea war – plastic blood is on our way, so no more stupid fights over blood transfusions which these fights are caused not of course for life concern but more from a need to point fingers and blame someone for our pathetic life…
http://biopolymer.group.shef.ac.uk/research/twyman_theme04.php
I personally have been going through some crazy situations were I don’t seem to really see a clear picture is really about. I mean there we
have Buddist, Catholics, jehovas witnesses and so on. I mean these are all man made products, who knows what “False Religion” as they say may really be. I would have to agree that most of the scientific facts are indeed honorable but that about celebrations or may I say gatherings. I believe that at the end it is entirely up to the person themselves to find it in thier heart and be good people. Many people use religion as a cover up and turn out to be two faces
you forgot Mao Tze Dong (about 80,000,000 of his own people butchered)
muhammad, moses, jesus, stalin, hitler, juehuovah, pol pot…maybe one day we’ll have to thank them…the world would’ve been overpopulated had they not existed…uhmmm….
Hi Da Silva you’re right,
no parent has the right to murder their children…except of course jehovah’s witlesses ones.
I know this very very well because my parents would have me dead, stone dead rather than giving me blood in case of an emergency. I just got lucky not to need any.
I believe that no parent has the right to make a life ending event for a child and i agree that to refuse to let a child have a blood transfusion is murder, also as the very basis of the JW religion is being told what to think and how to interpret the bible by lay people who have never studied the bible from a unbias prosective then this is most certainly abuse in its self.
In Genesis 9:4, the blood spoken of is referring to raw blood that was not supposed to be consumed as food. It symbolically represented life. To shed blood symbolically represented death (cf. Lev. 17:11). The blood of animals, representing their life, was not to be eaten. It was, in fact, that blood which God designed to be a covering for sin (Lev. 17:11).
Verse 5: beast . . . man. Capital punishment was invoked upon every animal (Ex. 21:28) or man who took human life unlawfully. Cf. John 19:11; Acts 25:11; Rom. 13:4 for clear NT support for this punishment.
Acts 15:29: James and the other leaders did not want the Gentiles to revel in their freedom in Christ, which could cause the Jewish believers to follow that same liberty and violate their consciences. So James proposed that the Gentiles abstain from four pagan, idolatrous practices that were violations of the law of Moses so as not to offend Jews. (Things polluted by idols): Food offered to pagan gods and then sold in temple butcher shops. Because idolatry was so repulsive to Jews and forbidden by God (cf. Ex. 20:3; 34:17; Deut. 5:7), they would have nothing to do with idols, including meat offered to idols (cf. 1 Cor. 8:1-13). (Sexual Immorality): Sexual sins in general, but particularly the orgies associated with the worship of pagan gods. The Gentiles were to avoid being offensive to Jewish sensibilities and their marriages and any relationship with the opposite sex. (Things strangled, and from blood): Dietary restrictions: (Gen. 9:4; 19:26; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:21-14; 19:26; Deut. 12:16, 23; 15:23; 1 Sam. 14:34; Ezek. 33:25).
Not receiving blood transfusions has nothing remotely to do with these passages. Refusing blood transfusions is indicative of Watchtower teaching, not the Bible.
In Genesis 9:4, the blood spoken of is referring to raw blood that was not supposed to be consumed as food. It symbolically represented life. To shed blood symbolically represented death (cf. Lev. 17:11). The blood of animals, representing their life, was not to be eaten. It was, in fact, that blood which God designed to be a covering for sin (Lev. 17:11).
Verse 5: beast . . . man. Capital punishment was invoked upon every animal (Ex. 21:28) or man who took human life unlawfully. Cf. John 19:11; Acts 25:11; Rom. 13:4 for clear NT support for this punishment.
Acts 15:29: James and the other leaders did not want the Gentiles to revel in their freedom in Christ, which could cause the Jewish believers to follow that same liberty and violate their consciences. So James proposed that the Gentiles abstain from four pagan, idolatrous practices that were violations of the law of Moses so as not to offend Jews. (Things polluted by idols): Food offered to pagan gods and then sold in temple butcher shops. Because idolatry was so repulsive to Jews and forbidden by God (cf. Ex. 20:3; 34:17; Deut. 5:7), they would have nothing to do with idols, including meat offered to idols (cf. 1 Cor. 8:1-13).
Not receiving blood transfusions has nothing remotely to do with these passages. Refusing blood transfusions is indicative of Watchtower teaching, not the Bible.
to Zero,
never a name was more apt.
you try to psychologize (the ‘ease the guilt’ part) those who are thru with the Towers of All Terrors (ToAT) bloodguilty doctrine that the ToAt blood-drenched terrorists have changed to the point that you can get all the blood you want but not together, or just take it provided nobody knows. Till new generations of witlesses come and none of them will sue them for instigation to murder and suicide among the brainwashed hordes of witlesses that happened decades earlier…
by the way: to choose – chose – chosen
Study before running your mouth with sub-ideas worthy of a laughing-stock.
And remember that the juahuvah totem was invented by jewish mullahs and then pushed by the ToAt ulama (body of mullahs). I mean, get at least the bare minimum of education.
yep…
Read Acts 15: 29. Genesis 9: 4-5. It is a direct command from God to abstain from blood, if you choose to disobey then you show a satanic attitude evidenced by your rebellion and arguing. John 8:44.
You chosed to take blood to save your own life, which shows you choose yourself over God. You make excuses to ease your guilt. Stop, accept who you are. If you dont like who you are than change who you are- bottom line.
Amen to that! What would be an interesting fact to know, would be: How many people has JW killed in the name of false doctrine? Because most hospitals in America now hand you a sign off slip before treatment when you are in the ER whether you can accept blood or not due to religeous reasons. Pretty much like “Sign here if you want us to save you or kill you in the unlikely event of a blood transfusion” Probably as many or more then have been killed in the name of Muhammad and his “religion of peace”!
What does what you said have to do with what I said?
As always, opposers can’t read and can’t comprehend.
Parents have the right to decide for the children along with their faith and medical decisions. And why is there always such a focus on children? As if refusing blood is bad for them?
As I said, there is nothing wrong with refusing blood transfusions. There are much better medical procedures than that.
And the objective is not to convince you.
I have no problems with YOU PERSONALLY deciding that YOU YOURSELF do not wish to have a blood transfusion.
The problems start if people make such a decision for OTHERS, like their children…
The JW blood doctrine is, at best, very unconvincing.
We went through the scriptures relating to this in some detail here at an earlier time. Do you want me to do that again?
That is the stupidest thing that I have ever heard.
There is nothing wrong with refusing blood transfusions.
I personally think it should be illegal for a parent to opt out of a blood transfusion for any children under 18 for which they are legally responsible, solely on religious grounds, without any medical reason for the refusal. Adults who are responsible have the right to make their own decisions, however destructive. However, they also have the right to the truth about the cost/benefit of their decisions.
Any religion that bans medical use of blood outright ought to itself be banned as a cult. No religion has all-knowing ability to discern if one transfusion carries a risk or not. And what the Bible forbids is eating blood as a food, not using it as a medicine. All blood transfusions are comparable to using allopathic medicine, which is excellent in a crisis situation like after an accident. This is not the same as using blood as a nutrient, which the Bible does condemn.
A responsible parent might see the fallacy of using allopathic medicine and withhold certain aspects of it from a child. This is not based on religion, but on cost/benefit analysis. However, in a crisis such as an accident (for which most blood transfusions are administered) or if the need is urgent, allopathic medicine will keep the patient alive long enough to allow natural remedies to kick in. Denying blood transfusions in an emergency on the grounds of religion is not responsible: those parents are effectively shirking their responsibilities and giving them to this religious organization that doesn’t give a crap about children.
Even better would be to hold the religious leaders wholly responsible for murder for children that die from not getting blood, under their directive. If the Watchtower Society would get held wholly responsible, then they wouldn’t prohibit parents from letting their children get blood. And if they try any games to reword a doctrine to make it look like a free choice by the parent, then the Watchtower Society should get it double: for the murder, and for obstruction of justice!
JB, if jesus had an accident and was at the hospital do you think jehovah would give him blood for a transfusion?
If I had my way jw’s would never take any blood. You see there is a shortage of it worldwide. So the less they take the more is left for me in case I need a trasfusion.
True is hard to listen!!!!
Surgey whithout blood is safer and the result is ofen better.
JBD
dear anonymous 199901,
you are the same and one chris and a JW who is cuckolding his heathen lunatic godless-god by interacting with “evil” apostates.
Of course you don’t aptly identify yourself: like most ieova-worshipers you’re totally ashamed of that sick name you bear.
To Joshua Saxton—-If it is between the brother that died and Johover, why then are the elders medling the affairs of the flock???
Playing God??
I believe you want
” What Kingdom Hell did you go TO school to?”
by the previous comments, your inability to spell perfectly means that you used to be a witness to, or that you currently are.
sheesh….
who cares, it’s spelling..get over it.
Which kingdom hell did you go school too????
Um what part of “former witness” did you fail to understand. I guess that you must not be a witness by the fact that you are unable to read properly.
Um some of those words aren’t spelt wrong at all so check a dictionary out sometime darlin’. Furthermore, I say sorry now for my typo, neglecting to use the space bar, and putting a dash in when I didn’t need to.
None of that changes the point of what I said. It’s still ignorant.
Hi! I’m Jonathan Lavoie. The man who started the petition. First, thank to all of you, who sign and those who post it here.
I invite all of you to read my forum at http://www.forum.primovivere.org . There is an english section at the bottom and check out the post in the “Sharing experience” sub-section called “my brother death story”. It will put thing in perspective for you about how he eventually died.
I dont need to explain to all of you the brainwashing that the Watchtower do. This is my point in asking for a change in the law. My borther could never make another choice. He would have been rejected by my familly (obviously not me and my sister) and his wife would have divorce him. Being told all the stupid stuff and lies about blood transfusion the WT told him all is life, who could he make a choice at all.
And about these new light on blood, new treatment they can accept, my brother went into a come a few day before the WT annonce the new light. Yeah thats right, a few more day’s and he might have knowned about these “now acceptable” stuff. He might have survive if he use it, instead of the alternative treatment, wich gave no result at all.
Anyway, thanks again for those of you who show support.
To Anonymous (Comment ID: 199853) “””””pigeon-hole, catergory, surprised, manipulated, infact, ablilities, unconscience”””””
By your spelling I would say you are also a witness!?
You are so full of hate. The very unclassy way you are spewing hatred does not show your superior intelligence over a JW’s. Regardless of whether or not the previous poster is a JW or not, he has his right to an opinion. I doubt he would post that he or she has an aunt that received a transfusion if he really is a JW.
To the individual that said that no one that is a JW can spell… That is the stupidest thing that I have ever heard. Certainly you can’t pigeon-hole a group of millions of people under a catergory of “they can’t spell” that’s insane. I would hope that you are a more enlightened human then that. Those that stereotype a group of people or a culture show the lack of intelligence that resides within their own soul. I trust that you were trying to be funny.
I have watched this sight quietly for some time and I am suprised to find out that so many people harbour anger against witnesses. I understand because some days I feel that inside me as well, but at the end of that same day I have to acknowledge the pity I feel for them. They truly think that they are doing good, they truly think they have the be all and end all answer, they truly are brainwashed and controlled, highly munipulated and missing out on the real “truths” of this world. I feel so sorry for them. I feel sorry for the years that I wasted in it myself and the damage it has done, but I thank my mother that although she was infact a witness she had the sense to teach me that which most witnesses are not taught. To use their own mental ablilities to make their own choices, and to use the sense that we are given and discern things that are right and wrong without being told.
Anne Marie, I strongly believe that your grandmother was wrong for trying to pound into your head a doctrine that would tell you, you will die if you are not on the same path as her. Believe me, being a former witness I have had that pounded into mine as well. My family still tries to save me on a regular basis. If this helps clear up your questions in regards to your grandmothers situation I will give you the following information. There are some matters of blood that are left on a conscience basis. For example, there are machines now that can almost recycle your bodies blood. There are other instances that are also matters of ones own conscience to decide if they will use these medical avenues or not. Also, if your grandmother got a transfusion for certain and it wasn’t authorized by her specifically because she was say unconscience at the time, then they wouldn’t hold that against her.
I personally wouldn’t have blood or blood products myself either. Far too many recalls on blood and ” oh we made a mistake it IS diseased blood” for my taste. Being raised as a witness I know major most part of the alternatives that are available and would be sure to use those first. Death in my eyes is better then life going on suffering with HIV, AIDS or whatever the hell else I could get.
I really must object against this issue. As a Jewish-believer in Yeshua or Jesus, which is not really accepted by my half-brothers in the Messiah – the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I think God wants us all to do our best to save lives. According to JW’s teachings, it is forbidden to go to the army, as it may put you in a situation in which you must take the life of someone. If this teachings are of any matter to JW I ask why aren’t they capable of accepting a blood transfusion to save lives. It does not make sence.
I call them my “half-brothers” in the Messiah from two reasons; one is the fact they don’t accept the term of “Messianic Jew” which is what Paul the apostle really was and teached Jews to be, as written in many of his epistles. Second, although it is clear that the JW base their faith on the same thing I base mine on, it still is not acceptable that someone could manipulate the scriptures so much, to a point in which its message is completelly lost.
I am a Jew who celebrates and keeps the Law of Moses that was given by God in mount Sinai, and I believe all that is written in the New Testament the same as I believe that Yeshua was a Jew keeping the Law of Moses that died for my sins. I will go to the army next year, I must to but I’m not opposed. I think it is a great honor and privilege to fight for God’s land, which still has got a lot to stand for. God never ended His agreement with the Jewish people. God never breaks an agreement, it is the people who break it but He never forgets what he promised. God opened another agreement in order to give life not only to His people but to the whole world.
I hope this was of help to anyone.
God bless.
You see without bias the truth is:
Within the circulatory system blood is either blue or green. This means blood turns red when the hemoglobin on the erythrocytes (red blood cells) become covered with oxygen in the atmosphere.
The problem is everything in the air gets sucked into it to.
Like the Oreck filtration system commercials show there’s alot of contaminants (Black stuff) in the air. These contaminants include the diseases accumlated in hospitals (when drawn in hospitals). It is a well known fact that more people get sick in the hopital than anywhere else. There is currently no way to avoid the contamination of blood.
Also Blood like anything else foreign to the body, has the risk of rejection, or atleast causes the body more difficulty in healing itself due to having to adapt to the foreign material. [During the beginning of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980's over 30,000 hemophiliacs aquired the disease from tainted Plasma which is a component of blood. Plasma screening was the most thorough blood screening system at that time]
Blood conservation techniques have the same mortality rate as using blood in surgery. The major difference is the lack of knowledge in these techniques and the fact that healing time is much shorter in blood conservation.
Another difference would be the use of electrocauterization (Electrcally closing cuts or surgical openings in the body). This almost imediately seals the openings without waiting for stitches to heal.
The truth is the bible used terms such as clean and unclean or holy and unholy to describe thngs that we now are beginning to understand as aseptic/septic (sannitary, unsanitary) or other definitions according to their context. This also applies to the food that we eat according the biblical laws, but those laws are no longer practiced with the admittance of gentiles.
Wether the interpretation of the scriptures are argued one way or another the scientific facts would still exist even with out the Jehovah’s witnesses.
If someone wants to do something seriuosly about increasing blood transfusions, then address the chronic shortage of blood products in Canada. Not enough people who will gladly take it do not donate. At least the advacements in Medical Science has started to produce synthetic alternatives to meet the shortfall.
Steve
So its fair to say that the Watchtower has again, with this issue, taken a can of beans and tried to explain to their followers its filled with corn???
Im sure the Divine writers of the new testament books did not even think twice about Blood Transfusions back in those days…its a classic case of JW teachings…total stupidity!
Im sure if there was a magazine that listed the dumbest organisations in the world….The watchtower would lead the bunch!
Antiochian,
There are many scriptures which can be moulded with the correct mindset to put you off life giving blood transfusions completely.
The watchtower will quote you a few cases where transfusions did not help and in fact made the patients condition worse. They fail to make mention of the countless cases where the transfusions were indeed the sole reason of the patient being saved. This is a propaganda swallowed whole by the gullible recipricants of the JW teachings.
For in depth explanations of the reasoning from their scriptures go to: http://www.watchtower.org/e/hb/index.htm
Personally I think these reasonings hold as much water
as a tea strainer.
Cheers,
Markus
I am not a jw and I firmly believe they should not take any blood. We constantly hear on TV for people to donate blood as there is a lack of it. The less other people take the more there is for me in case I need it. So, I encourage all JW not to take any blood.
Dear Antiochian,
Ok, the thing about blood transfusion stems from their interpretation of some parts of Leviticus and in particular that section of the Act of the Apostles where the council of Jerusalem is discussed, (The Judaising problem, see Acts 15 )
When non-Jewish Christians are asked there to “refrain from… blood” (Acts 15:20), JW interprete this to include blood transfusions.
In fact, if you read the section, you find it is about EATING (non-human) blood (”Things strangled” are mentioned in the same breath, for example), and the rule was introduced for the sake of peace between the Jews and non-Jews in the Christian community. Obviously the bible has little to say directly about modern medical procedures.
So that’s where is the JW blood transfusions thing comes from; totally mad, if you ask me, by there you have it.
Mark
Can someone please explain to me what is the problem with a Blood Transfusion?
Why do JW not allow it?
When I was a baby I received a blood transfusion that saved my life but also resulted in a hepatitis C infection. (Which was later cured, luckily). I am glad to be alive, and am grateful for my mother making the right decision. However, as an adult, I would do my best to seek alternatives to blood transfusion. And I it is good that more and more alternatives are being developed. The screening processes are still too poor. But when choosing between dead and infected with a disease through a blood transfusion, I would choose the latter hands down.
Ultimately it should be a matter of personal choice. With emphasis on informed and educated personal choice. The issue grays in cases where the patient cannot make a personal choice. My opinion is that while a choice based on careful review of scientific fact is to be supported, one that is based solely on faith should be questioned.
But opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has one, but unlike belly buttons (almost) everyone believes that theirs is the only valid one.
Chris, you claim not to be a jw, but your spelling has much to desire so I must conclude you are one. You see, most witnesses that come in here cannot spell either. If it looks like a jw, walks like a jw, quacks like a jw. IT MUST BE A JW.
One thing I agree with you, JW’s should not take blood. Apparently there is always a shortage of it. So the less the witnesses take the more there is for me in case I need it!
Now if you done your home work correctly you would find out that Millions of lives are saved each year through blood transfusions.
More witnesses have died for a lack of blood then for taking a transfusion. He…he….he…. that is right the twits wont take one. You knows, perhaps this way they will soon go out of extinction………(so I keep dreaming)……
The only people pebbling this tripe are JW, so go back to your kingdom hall, you are not allowed on this site.
PERIOD
i find it quite funny that so many people are so freaked out about this. most people have gotten brain washed by thes for-profit organizations like the red cross, you donate your blood and they sell it for a premium dollar, it is no wonder they are pushing so hard to up the supply. talk to any doctor, most modern doctors are denunciating the use of blood and are seeking new ways for bloodless surgery. heart transplantsand many other major operations are done without blood. i am not a jw, but i would never take blood, my aunt has hepatitus c because of a transfusion which was screened and is so called safe. before any more people feed off the ignorance of a loarge population, heres an idea.do your homework, you might realize that the best way is turn down a blood transfusion. more people die from getting blood than those who do not, PERIOD
Last time I heard there was a blood shortage, so if the jehovahs witnesses do not accept blood, more for us.
Those pricks do not deserve any of our blood anyway.
Why should Jehovah’s witnesses not be allowed to refuse blood when there are so many people with fatal illnesses and conditions, who are allowed to sign a DNR (do not resussitate) order that must be followed by physicians?
In the not too distant future we shall see the abolition of blood transfusions. At the moment this is a multimillion dollar business. If a simple mouth swab can give a sample of a persons’ DNA, then just think about the DNA transfused in blood. I am not a Jehovah’s Witness but I abhor the use of blood in transfusions. If someone wants to die for their faith (consider the Muslims) then who should stand up and prevent them from doing so? We might see it as a waste of a life, but they would see it as maintaining their faith in adverse conditions. I would suggest that doctors should stop trying to play God and/or Devil’s Advocate.
Any medical treatment without your consent is in fact an assault in law.
If you unable to give your consent, then your closest relative can, or a court.
If a parent withhold the consent to any treatment of his/her child, this can be challenged by the medical authorities in a court of law. Almost always, if a life-saving treatment is withheld by a parent, this is challenged and the court will order the treatment.
The problem is that a mentally competent person can refuse life-saving treatment. This would then bind any doctor’s hands. The person refusing treatment for him/herself does not have to give any reason, but if no reason is given menatl competence may be challenged.
A person refusing medical treatment on religious grounds cannot be forced to have such treatment even if the religious belief the refusal is based on is essentially false. In other words, an evidently false religious belief is not a ground for mental incompetence. It is also a legal curiosity that an active suicide attempt, of the assistance thereof, is illegal, but a passive one, like the refusal of life-saving treatment, and the doctor’s aquiescence is such an attempt, is not illegal.
Consent can, however, be implicit. For example the victim of a road accident who is unconscious will be treated as if s/he had given consent to any necessary life-saving procedure, even an amputation.
As a doctor, therefore, I would do my best not discover any objections to blood transfusions, and avoid as much as possible the chance of such requests being passed on to me. This, to some, may be unethical, but I would consider it in the interest of the patient to do so. I realise I would not alway succeed in this, but this would not stop me from trying.
This is bull Canadians have Gay marriage but they wont allow a person to not take blood on religious Grounds. Canada Needs to get its Priorities straight. atleast The United States IS A MORAL COUNTRY!!!!!!!!
Hi Annmarie, I feel your pain…
Again, I must comment, this just shows how evil the Watchtower Society is by encouraging people to literally commit suicide when they need a blood transfusion. The ironic part is when my “grandmother’ (she is a very evil woman) decided to have a valve transplant in her heart, she had first refused to take blood. A liasion (or what I call a suicide supporter) from the Watchtower Society came to the hospital to encourage her death (which would have been a good thing because the woman is very mean-spirited!)Anyway, my father, who is a baby, and didn’t want his “mommy” to die, convinced her to have the valve replacement. I do believe they used blood. So my “grandmother” who emotionally abused me for years saying that I would die for not being a JW actually went against the Watchtower Society. Yet this woman is still a JW because she has some money that she has left to the organization in her will. Hmmm, very interesting…