Japan deals blow to Jehovah's Witnesses

TOKYO, June 24 (UPI) -- Japan's top medical groups say children under the age of 15 should receive blood transfusions even if their parents are Jehovah's Witnesses.

A committee representing the five medical societies created a draft guideline that would supersede a parent's religious beliefs to ensure a child undergoing surgery receives any needed blood transfusions, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Sunday.

The committee found it would be an abuse of parental rights to allow Jehovah's Witnesses to make such crucial decisions for their children.

Before the guideline is finalized, the committee will meet with representatives from the religious group and several bioethicists later this year.

The committee's ruling added to a previous guideline that mandated such potentially life-saving procedures to any patients under the age of 12.

The newspaper said under the new guideline, patients between the ages of 15 and 17 could avoid a blood transfusion if they and their parents reject the procedure.