To receive a transfusion or to not receive a transfusion, that is the question

I came across an article in my Special Education class which my Professor brought to show us about Jehovah’s Witnesses.
It speaks about the Azevedo family and how fortunate enough to conceive twins. The only downfall was that one of the baby’s hearts was connected wrong and the baby wasn’t receiving blood to the lungs. This conditioned is called transposition of the great arteries. This condition is not a problem while the child is in the womb but once the child is born it needs to have an open heart surgery where they need to use donated blood in the process to repair the defect, if not the baby would suffocate and die. This surgery would consist of a one shot deal, the child would receive the surgery and they would be able to live a normal life, without having to go through any other procedures for this condition.
Due to the parents being Jehovah’s Witnesses they do not believe in blood transfusions, so their decision was made that they were not going accept the surgery. If they went along and accepted the surgery, they would be going against the laws of being a Jehovah’s Witness and could no longer be one.
Well couldn’t the law step in and help this unborn baby survive even if the parents where unwilling to go along with the surgery to save the babies life. This article states, “The first Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. This shows that even if the parent is unwilling to accept the surgery due to a religious reason, the court system would make a decision in place of the parent for the well being of the child. In this case the court had to appoint someone else to authorize the surgery, and the Jehovah’s Witness liaison stated that, “if the judge orders it, then you are not going against the church teaching”.
In the end the Azevedo’s newborn baby was given the surgery, without the parents consent and they were happy with themselves for continuing on with what the court believed was in the best solution for the situation.


Citation
Sanghai, Darshak. "When Science meets the Soul." The Boston Globe Magazine 9 3 2008: 29-40.