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.
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A judge has ruled that Tawnya Nissen, a 27 year old comatose woman, may receive a blood transfusion, despite her Jehovah’s Witness husband’s objections that blood transfusions are against God’s will.

Tawnya has been unconscious since July 31, when she collapsed because of a bad reaction to a diet drug. Doctors told the family that she might need a blood transfusion if she had to undergo a tracheotomy or other emergency surgery. Tawnya has not needed a blood transfusion, and her condition has improved. But she remains unconscious, and her father — who is not a Jehovah’s Witness — asked a judge to give him, rather than her husband Chris Nissen, the power to decide on her treatment. Read the rest »

Doctors at the Pretoria Academic Hospital have obtained an urgent court order enabling them to give a month-old baby a blood transfusion. They felt the life of the infant – one of twins – was at stake.

But the baby’s family, who live in Sunnyside and are Jehovah’s Witnesses, are deeply distressed. Read the rest »

A bitter clash between religious beliefs and medical treatment led to the ultimate breakup and bankruptcy of a Calgary family, a judge has concluded in the parents’ divorce action. Read the rest »

Bethany made headlines in Canada after refusing to undergo blood transfusions and died of acute myeloid leukemia. Bethany’s father claims the Watchtower Society and his wife played a major role in her death. He is now fighting for sole custody of his youngest daughter who lives with her mother and is also a Jehovah’s Witness. Read the rest »