mother dies after refusing blood transfusion

World UK

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A very sad story from England.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/7078455.stm

A young mother has died after giving birth to twins, following claims that she had refused a blood transfusion because of her faith.

Jehovah's Witness Emma Gough, 22, from Telford, Shropshire, gave birth on 25 October.

There's that word again 'Madam'.

Why do men insist they are merely being polite when they use that word when in fact, they are using the word to be annoyingly superior?

A madam is the owner of a whorehouse where I come from.

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lol,

I never meant to imply that anyone was affiliated with a whorehouse by the use of the word madam. I was only thinking of it as a polite title like miss, mrs., ma'am. I didn't think of any possible negative connotations associated with it since I did not intend to use the word as a slander. I wonder if that is more of a cultural difference between the U.S. and Australia? The only legal brothels in the states that I know of are in Nevada, far away from me....one of those out of sight out of mind things.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Gentle reminder that we all have our own opinions and we may not always agree but we need to respect others and their opinions. This board is a great way to learn about other religions but at the end of the day we are nurses and should ensure that our patients are informed as much as possible and support them in the decisions they make even if we do not agree with it.

As part of TOS we will not tolerate what we see as personal attacks and will edit or delete any threads that appear to be heading in that direction. If you feel that you are receiving some form of attack do not engage them but report them and allow the mod team to do their job.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Closed for moderator's review

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Specializes in psych nursing.

Here is a recent story of a fourteen-year old boy and Jehovah's witness who died. It's a little unsettling that he is fourteen and dead. I do respect one's right to freedom of religion but this case rattles my nerves.

Here's the link:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004041765_transfusion29m.html

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very sad....

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Another jehovah witness thread.

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yes, this is another jehovah's witness thread. there will continue to be such so long as innocent lives continue to be lost.

misinterpreting the old testament prohibition against eating animal blood as a routine food item, the watchtower society began teaching in 1945 that receiving a blood transfusion was "eating human blood". jehovah's witnesses believe that receiving an infusion of human blood into their body's circulatory system is scientifically the exact same thing as eating or ingesting blood into their body's digestive system. paul gilles recent comments during this tragedy in which he compared injecting alcohol into one's veins (give me a break) to drinking alcohol proves that jws still believe what the watchtower society published back in 1951:

"a patient in the hospital maybe fed through the mouth, through the nose, or through the veins. when sugar solutions are given intravenously it is called intravenous feeding. so the hospital's own terminology recognizes as feeding the process of putting nutrition into one's system via the veins. hence the attendant administering the transfusion is feeding the patient through the veins, and the patient receiving it is eating through his veins." -- the watchtower magazine, july 1, 1951.

jehovah's witnesses refuse to acknowledge that when human blood is transfused into their body's circulatory system that the transfused human blood remains to be human blood and continues to function as human blood. jehovah's witnesses refuse to acknowledge that if blood is eaten, then the ingested blood enters the body's digestive system, where the blood would be treated by the body exactly the same as it would treat a hotdog, a potato chip, or any other food item. ingested blood would be completely digested and broken down into proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and waste; which are then either assimilated or excreted by the body.

the watchtower society uses scriptures which speak about the blood of slaughtered animals to teach jehovah's witnesses that blood is "sacred" because blood is the "symbol of life". then, the watchtower society turns around and requires jehovah's witnesses to sacrifice their own "life" to maintain the alleged "sacredness" of a "symbol" of the very thing they are sacrificing -- their life. jehovah's witnesses refuse to acknowledge that the watchtower doctrine on blood moronically places a higher value on the symbol than it does on the thing symbolized.

in fact, the old testament scriptures permitted the eating of unbled animal meat, which the bible treats exactly the same as eating animal blood itself. in isolated occasions, when humans needed to eat unbled meat in order to sustain their own human life, the mosaic law permitted such, but then required the eaters to fulfill the requirements of being "unclean" for a few days. thus, the bible recognized that the sustaining of human life was more "sacred" than maintaining the sacredness of animal blood. to do otherwise would be doing exactly what the moronic watchtower society does. it would make the symbol more sacred than the thing symbolized.

in fact, the watchtower society is leading jehovah's witnesses to disobey god and violate the holy scriptures in one of the most serious ways possible. because humans were created in god's image, god considers human life sacred. a jehovah's witness who sacrifices their sacred life in order to maintain the sacredness of a symbol of that sacred life varies little from those who profane life by committing suicide. those jehovah's witness elders who teach and police this moronic doctrine vary little from common accessories to murder. the bible is fairly clear in how god views murder, and how he deals with murderers.

this moronic twisting of scripture would be laughable if not for the fact that it has lead to the pointless deaths of numerous jehovah's witnesses in the past, and it will continue to lead to the pointless deaths of many more jehovah's witnesses in the future.

the following website summarizes over 315 u.s. court cases and lawsuits affecting children of jehovah's witness parents, including 200+ cases where the jw parents refused to consent to life-saving blood transfusions for their dying children:

divorce, blood transfusions, and other legal issues affecting children of jehovah's witnesses

http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com

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Specializes in Trauma ICU,ER,ACLS/BLS instructor.

It is very sad,and it rattles me also. But, as the article stated, strapping down an adolescent to give a treatment he rejects, is not an option either. This would have been a constant need, over time multiple transfusions. If at 14 a child can decide what parent he chooses to live with ,why not other life changing issues? The court determined he was of sound mind, and knew death was imminent. Religion runs deep in children as well as adults. Who are we to decide what is right or wrong?

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
Another jehovah witness thread.

....:o

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

Multiple threads on this topic have been merged for staff review.

Thread closed for review.

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