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To what extent do parents among Jehovah’s Witnesses resist the Watchtower organization’s blood doctrine when the health of their child is at stake?
Earlier articles in this blog detail how the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not wholly embrace the Watchtower organization’s blood doctrine forbidding transfusion of some products rendered from blood while not forbidding other products rendered from blood.[1-3] But what of parents in particular?
A 1995 study by Dr. Kaaron Benson of patients treated at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute from October 1986 through February 1994 shows that parents in the Witness community tend to accept transfusion of forbidden blood products for their minor children.[3] Other sources lead to the same conclusion.
In an August 27, 2011 news article columnists Michael Mayo quotes legal sources who explain “a typical dynamic” at work in cases where children of Jehovah’s Witnesses are subjected to potential court-ordered blood transfusion[4]:
To what extent do parents among Jehovah’s Witnesses resist the Watchtower organization’s blood doctrine when the health of their child is at stake?
Earlier articles in this blog detail how the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not wholly embrace the Watchtower organization’s blood doctrine forbidding transfusion of some products rendered from blood while not forbidding other products rendered from blood.[1-3] But what of parents in particular?
A 1995 study by Dr. Kaaron Benson of patients treated at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute from October 1986 through February 1994 shows that parents in the Witness community tend to accept transfusion of forbidden blood products for their minor children.[3] Other sources lead to the same conclusion.
In an August 27, 2011 news article columnists Michael Mayo quotes legal sources who explain “a typical dynamic” at work in cases where children of Jehovah’s Witnesses are subjected to potential court-ordered blood transfusion[4]:
When the Watchtower organization paints a picture of the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses standing in full support of its blood doctrine, to say the least it is an incomplete picture.
It is true that some within this religious community embrace Watchtower’s blood taboo, but it is false that it is roundly accepted. It ends up that even State sponsored legal authorities are useful to parents among Jehovah’s Witnesses by helping to save the life of their child without incurring the severe repercussion of organized communal shunning required under Watchtower policy for Witnesses whose conscience sees nothing whatsoever wrong with transfusion of donor blood.
Clinicians are well advised to speak privately with patients in this community, and by “private” I mean without anyone else in the room including close family members other than the actual decision-makers. Only in an environment of complete confidentiality and trust can clinicians learn the actual conviction held by individual Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding use of blood products.
Doctors should know this: Parents among Jehovah's Witnesses do not buy Watchtower's blood doctrine, or at least this is typically the case. Give these parents the best opportunity to share their actual convictions, if for no other reason for sake of the children.
Marvin Shilmer
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References
1. Blood — How Resolute?
2. Blood — What Happened at Watchtower in 1945?
3. 80% Accept Blood Transfusion
4. Michael Mayo, August 27, 2011. State butts in to give kids a reprieve on life. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
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