I know that you are opposed to getting blood and blood products. If there is a doctor who is a JW, will they order blood or blood products for their patients, or would this go against your religious beliefs? I don't mean this to sound like I'm trying to be rude, I'm not. I'm really curious about this.
2007-09-05 08:27:34 · 4 answers · asked by odd duck 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
This question seems to ask whether a healthcare professional who is a Jehovah's Witness can administer a blood transfusion to a non-Witness patient. Each healthcare professional among Jehovah's Witnesses must decide this for himself, being careful not to violate his conscience. A medical professional among Jehovah's Witnesses could conscientiously implement any treatment he was instructed to implement.
There are no legal implications if a physician uses one entirely valid medical strategy over another, assuming he (and his insurance company's lawyer) can provide evidence that there was reasonable expectation that the outcome would be comparable or better. Please be assured that there is literally no circumstance in which the infusion of whole blood is superior to modern techniques.
Anti-Witness critics and pro-blood activists conveniently ignore the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe the bible to comment upon minor blood fractions (those derived from plasma, platelets, or red/white cells). It seems remarkable to suggest that one or more of these targeted treatments would be less preferable than the kind of scattershot "see what sticks" methodology represented by old-fashioned blood transfusion.
Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/hb/
http://watchtower.org/e/vcnb/article_01.htm
2007-09-05 09:50:22 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
I work in a hosptial and have worked in hosptials, more specifically ER's, for many years. I have yet to see a doctor withhold life saving treatment based on his/herown religious beliefs. However, I see every doctor respect the patient's wishes and religious beliefs. I've never known a Jehovah's Witness physician. I'm not saying that I've never met one. If I have, I didn't know it.
Just this past Sunday, I learned that one of the ER physicians I work with almost every day is LDS like me. We just happen to be in different Wards and ran into each other in the lobby between services at church last week. Go figure!
2007-09-05 15:07:47 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Jehovah Witnesses doctors deal with surgery that includes blood.
2007-09-05 08:49:28 · answer #3 · answered by VMO 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think someone who was opposed to using medical science to heal people shouldn't be practicing medicine.
Imagine if a Christian Scientist became a pharmacist and refused to fill any prescriptions, because he thinks disease isn't real and can be cured by prayer?
2007-09-05 08:47:03 · answer #4 · answered by Robin W 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋