Court overrules parents on surgery
Published: Dec. 28, 2007 at 1:10 AM
NASHVILLE, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A court in Tennessee ruled that doctors can perform heart surgery on a newborn even though using blood products violates her parents' beliefs.
The parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. They believe in getting medical treatment but believe that blood transfusions and any other use of blood violates Biblical teaching.
"It's a scriptural command to abstain from blood," Fred Haston, who chairs the Jehovah's Witnesses Hospital Liaison committee, told The Nashville Tennessean. "The reason is that the life of a person is in that blood. We believe that blood is life."
The girl, identified only as Baby Girl Doe, was born at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a congenital heart condition. Doctors said that unless she received a cardiac catheterization within 48 hours of birth she was likely to die.
The parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. They believe in getting medical treatment but believe that blood transfusions and any other use of blood violates Biblical teaching.
"It's a scriptural command to abstain from blood," Fred Haston, who chairs the Jehovah's Witnesses Hospital Liaison committee, told The Nashville Tennessean. "The reason is that the life of a person is in that blood. We believe that blood is life."
The girl, identified only as Baby Girl Doe, was born at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a congenital heart condition. Doctors said that unless she received a cardiac catheterization within 48 hours of birth she was likely to die.
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
» Next in Top News:
Steam explosion blamed on clogged trap
Relatives mourn the death of Ziad Ghalayini during his funeral in Beirut on 11 May 2008. Ghalayini, a Sunni Moslem and government supporter was killed during bloody clashes with Moslem Shiite Hezbollah fighters. Clashes continued throughout the country on Sunday and the country’s only international airport remained closed. (UPI Photo)
FUNERAL FOR PRO GOVERNMENT SUPPORTER
Full Photo
| Slideshow
Latest Headlines
Most Popular