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.
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I found your blog to be very interesting and while I do not know a lot about the topic myself I decided to read it thoroughly and comment on it. First I thought that the reason that you choose this topic which dates back to when you were a little girl and you were terrified the individuals that were trying to speak to you was a very interesting way to approach this assignment. You make it clear in the beginning that you feel uncomfortable when they approach you at your home and that you want to further understand why they go to all that time to try and make you switch to their religion. One of the other interesting facts that I found in your blog was your experience that you have had in a situation where you were dating a Jehovah Witness and you did not understand why they did certain things or believed in things differently then yourself. Your video I thought was very well chosen one, it truly shows and enforces your point of being bothered by Jehovah witness when people are just trying to get to their destination. I feel that I also can relate to your video because I have had the same situation happen to myself in NYC where Jehovah Witness have approached me and my family and would literally talk for 10-15 minutes about the benefits and the message they believe in. Your next blog which had some main beliefs which you thought was important to Jehovah Witness was very interesting. The following rule “Taking blood into body through mouth or veins violates God's laws”, I thought was of very particular interests and goes with your other blog where you talk about the Azevedo’s Newborn. I thought that this blog was your most interesting one and that you relate it well to the material we have done in class about different religions believing in different things especially when dealing with medical decisions such as this situation. I found this of particular interested how a parent would not be willing to save their child just because of something that they believe. I am glad that you put this article up because you show to what extent Jehovah Witness go to in which they would follow their religion over the life of a human being. One of your other strong point in your blog was your interview with your ex boyfriend who was not a Jehovah Witness anymore. This truly showed that your blog had meaning and you truly wanted to find out why these individuals follow this religion that to you is so foreign. One of the things that I would advise on is the organization of the blog itself. Maybe you could have organized your blog in a more structural manner which leads from one point to the other. Another thing that I picked up on was maybe putting the name of your ex- bofriend or stating that he did not want to have his name published in the blog. I feel that a name would have been better rather than just addressing him as your ex-boyfriend. Other then that I think that you are getting close to your original question and you are begging to understand why this is a sacred practice to some people and what truly makes someone a Jehovah Witness. I look forward to your other blogs. Keep Posting!
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