I am not a Jehovah's Witness. I am a physician, training in pathology. In that capacity, it is my duty to perform autopsies on patients who die in the hospital where I work. Recently, a Jehovah's Witness died (all indications are that causes are natural) and her sons requested an autopsy to determine the cause of death. At the end of her life, they refused blood transfusions and other interventions on her behalf (she was not competent to make decisions) on the grounds that she was a Jehovah's Witness.
Are autopsies not mandated by federal law permissible? Is there an unequivocal Jehovah's Witness church position on this issue or is it left to the discretion of the individual?