Postgrad Med J 2005; 90: 715-719. [Abstract] [Full text]
[Abstract]:
Archives of Disease in Childhood 2005;90:715-719
© 2005 BMJ Publishing Group & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
ETHICS |
Children of Jehovah’s Witnesses and adolescent Jehovah’s Witnesses: what are their rights?
S Woolley
Correspondence to:
Dr S Woolley
Bristol Royal Infirmary/Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol, UK; [email protected]
ABSTRACT
The Jehovah’s Witnesses Society (JW), a fundamentalist Christian sect, is best known to laypersons and healthcare professionals for its refusal of blood products, even when such a refusal may result in death. Since the introduction of the blood ban in 1945, JW parents have fought for their rights to refuse blood on behalf of their children, based on religious beliefs and their right to raise children as they see fit. Adolescent JWs have also sought to refuse blood products based on their beliefs, regardless of the views of their parents.
sKally