JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES – MEDICAL CARE, MINORS AND THE RELIGIOUS RITE/RIGHT

Abstract

Responsible and caring parents seek the best possible medical care for their children. In the case of parents who are Jehovah’s Witnesses their religious beliefs prohibit medical intervention which uses blood. This prohibition specifically includes the refusal of blood transfusions even where such a refusal may result in the death of the person concerned. Jehovah’s Witnesses as a result are often viewed with animosity or contempt, considered foolhardy and recklessly disregarding life, martyring themselves and their children. This article seeks to examine the religious origins of the blood prohibition and attempts to set the rationale for refusal in its religious context. It also explores the approach of the courts in the UK, the US and Canada to Jehovah’s Witnesses children (supported by their parents) including those who have expressed a wish to refuse such treatment or else have been too young to do so. It concludes with presenting such refusal as a religious right which it is argued engages article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).