Ind. parents fighting transfusion for baby

FORT WAYNE, Ind., May 28 (UPI) -- A Jehovah's Witness church elder says two Indiana residents are opposing a blood transfusion for their ailing child because of religious beliefs.

Richard Dellinger, an elder at the church in Fort Wayne, Ind., said Jehovah's Witnesses Stephanie and Pierre Binns have refused to give their ailing daughter a blood transfusion despite doctors' assertions it is needed for the child to live, WANE-TV in Fort Wayne, Ind. said Thursday.

"We're not about to take blood, because the Bible says abstain from blood," Dellinger said regarding the couple's religious stance.

The Binns' child, known only as Baby Girl Binns, was born premature and anemic on May 14 and doctors insist at least one blood transfusion is needed to save the infant.

WANE-TV said based on that medical stance, a judge issued a court order that overruled the parents' decision to forgo the procedure.

Dellinger told the TV station the judicial order has yet to be necessary in the case as unspecified alternative treatments appear to have helped the infant.

"The blood levels in this child are improving and we're taking advantage of what is available so as to avoid the transfusion," he said.