JW mother refuses blood transfusion and dies leaving newborn twins

[WendyWeber]

report

"We can't believe she died after childbirth in this day and age, with all the technology there is."

They all share the responsibility for her death - her family, his family, the church, all of them. Can they really believe they all did the right thing?

please dopnt slag off JW's over this.

this young woman made a descision based on her faith and her family respected that. i think we should as well. it is not our place to judge.

(ex- JW)

Also there have been religious cults where a lot of people were persuaded to commit suicide under what are generally agreed to be misguided beleifs, and we all say "how terrible that those poor people were duped by that cult" - not "well it's their belief so we should respect it". There has to be a line drawn somewhere - where reigious beliefs tip over into madness. Myself, I see any religious belief as a form of delusion and madness, but even people who don't do draw the line somewhere. I'd say this was a pretty tragic delusion - that she thought she wanted to obey a religious rule, developed because of an unusual interpretation of a translation of some words written many hundreds of years ago, rather than be a mother to her children. Do I respect that just because she believed it? No.

it was her descision though. based on her faith.

it is a very senstive issue.

But it's such a ridiculous rule - based on an interpretation of a foreign phrase written 1000s of years ago and about a different religion.

And "you must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh" - are JWs vegan? Surely they literally eat blood every day?

the thing is you cant force anyone to have any medeical treatment if they dont want it. that includes blood transfusions.

How can someones faith be more important than their loved ones? I would do anything for my children. I can't understand how this can happen.

but as an adult its her choice. I hope her Dh gets the support of the community in raising the twins alone, a challenge for anyone no doubt.

none of you have any idea of the true facts. my sister has cried herself to sleep nearly every night.
anthony is struggling to bond with the babies because he blames himself.
emma was a devout follower of the church that she was raised in and her husband and family decided to go against her wishes, by that point she had haemorraged so badly that it was just too late.

these thing do happen quickly and it isnt fair, but as i said before a little respect. emma was a lovely woman, she was kind, generous and was soooo excited about being a mum. this was her first pg and you dont expect to have to make these decisions, how many people stuck to their first birth plan?

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Yes you can LVoC, if they are considered tobe insane and a danger to themselves and others. I actually think it's an anachronism that religion doesn't come into that category. Anybody can go around telling people what to believe and it can be and is highly dangerous in many situations - suicide cults, suicide bombers and abortionist-murderers spring to mind. Just because it's what someone believes, we don't actually respect it, not really, not always, if you stop to think about it.

Agree with everyone who says that declining a transfusion was this poor young woman's right according to her beliefs, and that we are fortunate to live in a society where respect is given to people's faith/secular preferences in general.
I would like to know, though, if the health professionals who dealt with her paperwork made sure they explained to her fully the risk of post-partum haemhorrage (raised with twins?) and the real risk that she could die of this complication. It's well known that devout JWs refuse transfusion so they must surely have a policy of making an extra effort to explain the risks.
And I agree with Blu that one of the cruellest aspects of this tragic story is that when they changed their minds the treatment was too late to save her life .
LVOC, can you explain as an ex-JW what the position is on auto-transfusion? I am sure I heard somewhere that banking your own blood for future use is a permissible solution, maybe I'm wrong.

I am truly sorry for this woman and her family. That doesn't mean I have to respect her beliefs or her faith.

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There are other religions btw that refuse what could possibly sve their lives- there is a death ritual in jainism for example where people (theoretically already dying but not necessarily in practice and often a long way off) choose a ritualised form of starvation- presumbly also sometimes leaving children. Bt I do firmly beleive its their right- we cant argue 'its our boduies' on the abortion front and then take that awy as soon as religions that we dont necesarily sympathise with become invovled

I can see that it is upsetting for lissie though so I apologise about that and will resist being any more opinionated on this thread.

Lissie higs XXX I hope your friends find some comfort in those babies.

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Hear hear peachy - either we have a right to decide how our bodies are treated or we don't

Treatment for children can already be handled in the courts afaik, I imagine parents go into decisions in full awareness of that fact, at least in the UK.

lissie, I'm sorry this thread is upsetting you - I didn't know before that you knew Emma and I didn't know her husband and parents had relented about the transfusion, I'm so sorry that their decision came too late to save her.

But I don't understand how the JW organisation can still enforce this rule. It is a ridiculous rule and it's tragic that it has killed Emma.