BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Philosophy extraordinary means medical ethics question

"This is somewhat OT, but I wasn't sure where else to post it.

A gentleman that works with my husband (super nice guy) had a heart attack over the holidays. He is in critical condition in the hospital.

Where the big problem comes in is that he and his wife are JW, and so refuse any type of blood transfusion.

In order for him not to have another heart attack, they have had to give him blood thinners, in order to make it easier for the blood to flow through. But he desperatly needs heart surgery, and they cannot do the surgery without having extra blood on hand for a transfusion.

Even without being on blood thinners, a typical heart surgery takes 1 unit of donated blood to make up for loss during the surgery. Because of the blood thinners, they are thinking it would take at least 3 units. It would be suicidal (or homicidal) to open him up without extra blood on hand.

So, unless a miracle happens - this man is gong to die, and he does not need to. The medical technology is there and actually rather standard. I mean, it is major surgery, but it is one that is done on a fairly regular basis.

But because of the Jehovah's Witness belief against taking transfused blood - he may die. frown I just can't see this being God's will."

Somebody posted this in another forum and I thought it would make a great medical ethics discussion. I figured this would be the best neutral place to re-post it.

What are you thoughts on this and on religions (JW, Scientology, others) that consider medical care as described above extraordinary means?

Is there a way the medics can extract and preserve his own blood? To be on the safe side it would need to be at least 5+ units. Also ask the sect to see what other methods (bulking out with saline etc.), have been used successfully by other members in the past. Plus any new treatments that might be looking for people to undergo them and don't contradict the JW worldview.

My thoughts:

1. Life and death mean different things to different people. Nearly all of us believe in the sanctity of life. But few understand that death is not necessarily a tragedy. People talk about faith in God and faith that there is life after death but when faced with someone making that transition from here to there, they freak out. Death truly is but a door to a much more beautiful existence than even this earthly life. How do I know? Faith. Plus the fact that deceased loved ones returned to tell me so. Earth life offers us opportunities and experiences, but when people want to move on, don't stand in their way.

2. Belief is a powerful thing. A person's beliefs make magic and miracles happen. We must honor a person's beliefs. His God will honor his honest and sincere faith in what he believes (regardless if they may appear to be "misguided" by others' views). If this man follows his heart and his beliefs into the grave, I am certain God will accept that devotion as a gift unto Him. If you believe in a loving, fair and just God, you must admit that He would never forsake a sincerely God-loving who attempted to find and worship Him, regardless of which church or religion he found.

3. Free will is a basic human right. Live and let live...or in this case, let die. I object only if an adult or someone else makes a decision on behalf of another person, say a child. In that situation, we must protect the child's right to live as he is not capable of understanding the beauty and opportunity of life.

Personally, I accept and appreciate medical technology as a gift to mankind. I see the sacredness of human blood as life force. But so is breath and air. Everything in its own way is sacred. We share it all.

But for this JW, let him worship God in his chosen way.

I fully agree with you Lori and I don't see why people get so freaked out when somebody chooses what is a natural progression. "Death truly is but a door to a much more beautiful existence than even this earthly life." Doesn't matter what religion you are. This is so true. This is mentioned in the bible a lot.

My mom singed a DNR not too long ago and some family members were disturbed by this but I totally get it! I think it's important to consider the quality of the life the person who's life you are trying to extend is going to continue living. In many cases it doesn't make any sense to preserve a life.

I personally would prefer not to live connected to all kinds of machines and tubes or to become a burden (financial and emotional) to my family members.

If you look at it from a religious perspective it's like going against what God wants for you.