It's Easier to Ask For Forgiveness Than to Get Permission

[jamesq]

The BC sextuplets need treatment and it might include blood transfusions.

Why is this even up for debate? Give the kids the treatment they need. But of course there's a big foo-fer-all because the parents are Jehovah's Witnesses. Now a few months ago I wrote a rant against religion. One of the points of that post was that arguments from religion get an easy time of it, simply because it's a religion. This is a perfect example of that.

Suppose for a moment that the parents had some other reason, a non religions reason, for opposing life-saving medical treatment. "Aliens told us not to" or "blood is red and I hate the colour red". We'd ignore their wishes in a heartbeat. Child Protective Services would be called in.

But no, they're arguing from religions orthodoxy so it's likely to be a series of court injunctions. Medical treatment needs to be done sooner then later to gain the full benefits, but this dicking around will delay that. Meanwhile, infants might die.

I think the doctors should simply go ahead and treat the kids now and stonewall as much as they can before the inevitable court injunction is delivered. Do as much good as you can now, when it will do the most good. Poor Bethany Hughes might still be alive today if she had been treated sooner.

It's a strange day when the Calgary Herald and I see eye to eye.

Finally, lets all remember that there is no such thing as a JW (or Catholic or Muslim or Jewish) child - there are only children being raised by JW (or Catholic or Muslim or Jewish) parents.

Comments

[mallt.livejournal.com]

I may be mistaken but I believe I read that this multiple birth, as is often the case, was due to fertility treatments. If their "faith" allows such medical intervention how can they now refuse medical intervention to keep their babies alive?

Having to go on fertility treatments says to me that these people were struggling, they obviously really wanted a family or they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of going this route. How can they now refuse treatments for the lives they worked so hard to secure?

It boggles my mind!

I believe in faith, not blind faith.

One of these things is not like the others...

[nikitaa.livejournal.com]

According to the news, yes, the parents were on fertility treatments.

The JW faith does not have any problem with medical treatment, however their belief system is such that they deny the use of blood or blood products, regardless of the concequences of the withheld treatment. I'm sure it would be fascinating to read their rationale against blood, and to find what other medical treatments go against their religion.

A belief system that is different than ours can be difficult to understand, especially when it is based on blind faith. I simply CAN'T understand why some people persist in the erroneous belief that they don't need to drink at least five cups of coffee in a day. I mean, what's WRONG with them?

Re: One of these things is not like the others...

[mallt.livejournal.com]

You are right, I don't know the reasoning behind their refusal to have treatments involving blood and I'm not commenting on their right to refuse treatment at this point. I am simply saying that it boggles my mind that a couple who obviously have gone to great lengths to have these children are then refusing the treatments to keep them alive.

Re: One of these things is not like the others...

[jamesq]

Honestly? I'd be feeling damned overwhelmed by the prospect of going from 0 to 6 children instantly. If I were religious, I might grab onto anything that seemed stable (like a black-and-white commandment) just to keep from having an all out panic.

My dark side also suggests that if it were god's will to knock the number of kids down to a manageable number, simply by witholding a treatment, so be it. The psychology of guilt is a weird thing and clinging to rules is certainly one way of coping.

Re: One of these things is not like the others...

[mallt.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that that dark thought had crossed my mind... are they using this as an excuse because they know they can't cope with that many at once. I hope like hell that's just me being very, very cynical.

I currently have friends who are fighting their way through the 11 1/2 week premature birth of their son but emergency c-section. knowing what an emotional rollercoaster they are going through right now as their baby struggles through his first weeks, seeing how they are doing everything in their power to ensure he's still around by the time the original due date rolls around... I wonder how they feel about this story...