by Island Man 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
In Spain they don't unless they signed yours as a witness. Secretaries certainly don't have a copy on file. That would be against your data protection rights so you'd have to sign something to allow them to do so.
The thing here now is a personal "living will" which you fill out and take to the relevant authority in the county.
There are publishers here who still have the old Publisher card, that stopped being used back in the 90s!
The issue with destroying it or not putting it in your hospital records is that if you have JW family members and they get a copy of the document from the congregation secretary, the copy is just as enforceable as the original.
If the situation should arise re family for instance, or you are coerced to sign and then give a copy to the congregation secretary........ the very next day I would draw up a consent to any and all appropriate medical treatment including blood transfusion as needed.
Take it to a Notary have someone witness your signature date it and have the Notary add their seal. And it would supersede the earlier Blood card.
You could also print and seal a wallet size copy and carry that in your wallet hidden in back of your insurance card.
Local needs marking talk and lots of pressure to give in or make an apostate statement.
Even when I was a true believer and the secretary, I never provided a copy for the congregation. When asked, I always say that I've handled with my doctor and lawyer who also handled my will and that I'm not comfortable providing anyone else with the document since it's a "legal" document.
No push back. And for the record, I tore mine up several years ago. There may be things that are worth dying for, the WTS isn't one of them.
All I know is that a lot of Witnesses will give a copy of their DPA to the congregation secretary along with a copy to the two health care agents. Not everyone does but if you did then those copies would be just as enforceable as the original.
I am not an attorney but I believe that creating a new DPA that includes language such as "this DPA revokes any previous DPA's I may have made" will revoke prior ones.
You would have to check with an attorney but I don't think it is a big deal (other than paying for the new DPA).
Rub a Dub
I actually haven't filled it out since my baptism and I currently haven't been reprimanded for it
Thanks for all the responses so far. It seems from the majority, that there's not much the elders can do beyond just harassing you to fill it out.
As a secondary issue, I'm wondering about the legality of the document being emblazoned with a No Blood graphic on the front while providing a check box on the inside to accept all blood fractions. Doesn't the No Blood graphic on the front of the document indicate that the publisher of it - Watchtower - is somewhat influencing the signee to choose a particular option?
More importantly, doesn't the fact that the publisher of the document is a religious authority that threatens shunning to any member that accepts blood, not also indicate that the signees are faced with a form of duress and are not really making the indicated choices completely free of duress?
What would happen if an awake JW were to be secretly recording a signing session where the box that says: "I accept all is ticked" and the witness to his signing is an elder and he notices it and starts trying to tell the JW to change it and starts threatening judicial action if he doesn't? What if it goes to a judicial committee and all of this is recorded and shared with the justice or legal system? What impact would that have on the way the legal system views the validity of the JW DPA card as being a document that is truly signed without any form of duress?
Im an elder and I havent filled one out in at least 10 years.
