Makes me wonder what I would have done for my kids when I was in.
A number of years ago when I was a fairly prominent elder in our congregation and been with a number of other JWs to see their doctors about the no blood stance before elective surgery , we organized a visit from the Hospital Liaison Committee. I was comfortable enough with the stuff they presented on ?elective? surgery and associated blood loss but could not see how the same could be applied to other areas, e.g. accidents and treatment of childhood leukemia.
Specifically queried childhood leukemia with a couple of the members of the HLC after the special meeting. I said that the treatment childhood leukemia was one area of medical science that had really advanced over the last few decades. The treatment involves severe chemotherapy and then bone marrow transplants to replace the destroyed leukemia producing marrow. It also requires blood transfusions to replace destroyed white blood cells, etc as a result of the chemo. Obviously, lots of moral problems for JWs; could we accept the bone marrow transplant but not the whole blood, etc?
The answer from the HLC? ?In our country the child would be made a ward of court and that would be it, they would get the treatment?. Sounded like an abdication of making moral decisions to me.