Hey ex-HLC members sorry to bother you again but........

5go

I was wondering how many cases involving kids end in the courts, and how does it usualy turn out ?

How many families run when the court orders come down ?

How do the kids and families fare afterwards in both cases ?

joanne_

that is a really interesting question, i hope you get some answers. is there ex-jws who were in this position on the board? i would like to know how they feel about the whole situation now. joanne

In a good many states, JW parents can not refuse blood for their minor children. The law is set up to protect the doctors from giving proper treatment to minors. When it comes to states where they must get a court order to give blood to a JW child then I suspect the parents speak out loud that they oppose the blood transfusion but at the same are releaved that their child survived because the decision was taken out of their hands.

I am a volunteer with AJWRB.ORG

Mary aka Balsam

aniron

This got me thinking that in all the 25 years I was a JW . In the congregations I was in I can probably count on one hand the number of times that other JW's had problems over blood. Never heard of a case locally involving children either.

I remember speaking to one HLC member who told me their biggest problem was not dealing with the doctors. But with "hysterical" JW's who seem to think that as soon as they were in hospital they were going to be pumped full of blood. He put much of the blame on the WT and the way it pictured doctors and hospitals.

I remember a JW friend who 10 yr old daughter needed her tonsils out, because constantly getting tonsilitis. But he got it in his head that this would mean her having a blood transfusion. So he refused any treatment. For two years that girl had to put up with getting tonsilitis practically every month. In the end she had a bad attack and the doctor said if she gets another it could be serious. When he told the doctor he would consent if no blood was used. The doctor sort of said "what blood?" , we use a heated scalpel which cuts and seals the blood vessels at the same time. She'll come in morning and probably be sent home in the afternoon."

This JW brother had been under the impression because she was going into hospital for an operation, she would automatically be given blood. Because thats what the Watchtower had led him to believe.

Mulan

A family we were very close to, because we studied with them, had a major crisis back in 1996 during the district convention. Their 13 year old daughter was dying of congestive heart failure. Her blood count was so dangerously low, that they wanted to transfuse her and said if they didn't she wouldn't live more than a few days. Her father, also an elder, was very upset and causing quite a scene, and the HLC came in to see us and have my husband calm him down. They said the family had to let them transfuse her. Huh??? We couldn't believe our ears. We had started our slow fade by then, but Dave was still an elder for another month I think. We wanted her to have blood, but were shocked by what the HLC was saying.

They said they had worked for years to have a good relationship with that hospital (Mary Bridge Children's, in Tacoma WA) and they didn't want any bad press.

By the way, she was given blood and recovered and is still alive. She has Down's Syndrome, so has lots of health issues. That one seems to be over for now. 10 years!

5go

Recently we had a brother die from refusing a surgery the insurance company the VA ( yep vetaran affairs) said blood or no surgery. He died of cancer rather than get the surgery.

5go

Last question I quess this could be another topic but I used my quota for the day.

Has the HLC given up for the most part ? To me it seem so at least with kids and maybe adults as well.

willyloman

They said the family had to let them transfuse her. Huh??? We couldn't believe our ears.

This is precisely what I'd expect an HLC member to say under the circumstances, based on my experience in these matters. A former HLC elder who later became an administrator of a hospital's bloodless surgery program, would tell parents of minor patients exactly the same thing: 'They'll get a court order and you can't stop it, it's the law, so just accept it and pray.' They didn't want to go to court over it and risk their working relationship with the surgeons.

It's the slightly revised dub version of "Don't ask, don't tell."

Seeker4

At the district convention this past summer, a brother from my old congregation died because of refusing blood. He'd had a colonoscopy a couple of days prior to the convention, and Friday afternoon, while helping with the cleaning, he had to be rushed to the emergency room.

He was bleeding internally, evidently from a problem from the colonoscopy, and he refused transfusions. He went into a coma and died early Saturday morning. He had just turned 50.

In most of the cases involving children and blood that I was a part of as an elder in the 70s - 90s, the Society told the parents to let the state get a court order and give the child blood. I remember being rather shocked when Fred Rusk, who was the WTS's main blood guy for years, essentially told me that over the phone when we were dealing with a case. That's not a direct quote, but the gist of the conversation.

S4

Haelcer

I was wondering how many cases involving kids end in the courts, and how does it usualy turn out ?

In Poland is this small percentage. Doctors usually pass blood children in secret. However such cases happen. And judges usually are against WTS.

Hey ex-HLC members sorry to bother you again but........

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