Posts by johnwscott

22

Ireland: judge orders baby to be given blood after dramatic court hearing

by behemot in

a judge ordered the baby son of a jehovah witness couple to be given a life-saving blood transfusion after a dramatic court hearing in his home in the early hours of the morning.. judge gerard hogan said barristers for temple street children's hospital arrived at his house at 1am on december 27 and argued the desperately ill three-month-old boy needed urgent treatment.. neither the infant nor his parents were identified in the high court judgment, which was published today.. judge hogan ruled that while parents have the constitutional right to raise their children to their own religious and philosophical views, the state has a vital interest in ensuring children are protected.. "but there is absolutely no doubt but that the court can intervene in a case such as this where the child's life, general welfare and other vital interests are at stake," he added.. judge hogan heard that when the baby boy was born in september 2010 he had been a twin, with a sister who did not survive.. on christmas day the infant was suffering from acute bronchiolitis when his condition deteriorated.

at one point he stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated.. he was transferred to temple street the following day where his condition became critical.

his liver was distended and by that evening his haemoglobin level plummeted to the point where a transfusion was necessary.. the judge said while the boy's parents were clearly anxious for his welfare and had allowed the use of blood products earlier that day, as committed jehovah witnesses they were steadfast in their opposition to this procedure.. the hospital made contact with the court's duty register at 10pm that night and the high court hearing was swiftly arranged.. consultant dr kevin carson, clinical director of intensive care, argued the youngster's life was in danger and there were no medical alternatives to a transfusion.. the parents were not legally represented at the judge's house, but were aware of the issues as the court had previously sanctioned a blood transfusion for another child of theirs.. judge hogan continued: "there is no doubt as to the sincerity of the religious beliefs of the parents.. "they struck me as wholesome and upright parents who were most anxious for the welfare of their child, yet steadfast in their own religious beliefs.

johnwscott

There is much publicity surrounding this isolated incident. The questions I had regarding this incident are,

Was a transfusion the only alternative, or was that the only alternative that this particular hospital was aware of? If the baby was in a facility such as in the United States Englewood, NJ Bloodless Center, would the technology and expertise of the medical staff there have been sufficient to save the baby with equal proficieny? Are there are "life-saving" methods that the particual hospital in Ireland does not yet utilize?

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS

"As of 2006, there are 142 hospitals and over 100,000 doctors in the United States that offer some version of bloodless treatment to all patients regardless of religious beliefs. (See "Blood Conservation Strategies" on page 28)". http://www.knocking.org

4

Need controls on links page. Links are currently 100% apostate

by johnwscott in

i am relatively new to this site, so i don't know the tone of the discussion, but the links to jehovah's witnesses-related sites on this site is 100% apostate.

if this is an "apostate" site, that that is understandable.

if this isn't, but it is jehovah's witnesses-oriented site, then that is not desirable.

johnwscott

I am relatively new to this site, so I don't know the tone of the discussion, but the links to Jehovah's Witnesses-related sites on this site is 100% apostate. If this is an "apostate" site, that that is understandable. If this isn't, but it is Jehovah's Witnesses-oriented site, then that is not desirable. If this attempts to stradle both sides of the issue, or be neutral, then a links section with 100% or more than 30% strictly apostate sites, most of which were posted by two users, isn't neutral or ethical. It gives a misimpression from one negative viewpoint of Jehovah's Witnesses.

So, depending on the position that this site is trying to take, I would recommend not allowing any one user to contribute more than 3 links on the Jehovah's Witnesses links page, and not allow socketpuppetry either, that is a user using multiple names.