Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 51
accounts from people who had left the group were not reliable. (Deutsche Welle World,
Internet, 3/25/05)
Argument against Transfusion
Lawyers for a young Canadian Jehovah’s Witness who does not, on religious grounds,
want to receive a court-ordered blood transfusions if physicians deem they are necessary in
the course of her cancer treatment, argue that she should be allowed to get alternative
treatment at New York‘s Schneider Children‘s Hospital. That facility avoids transfusing
unless the life of the patient is immediately threatened, and because transfusing risks
transmission of hepatitis, HIV, and West Nile Virus. Canadian authorities argue that
transfusions are likely to be necessary in connection with the girl‘s chemotherapy. (Jane
Armstrong, Globe and Mail, Internet, 5/4/05)
Unidentified because she is a 14-year-old minor, the girl says her refusal is ―based on God‘s
word. He told us to abstain from blood and we need to obey his commandments.‖ She said
her faith informs every decision she makes. ―It‘s part of my every day. I don‘t ever stop
thinking about it. Everything that I do, I apply God‘s standard to it. Every decision I make, I
apply God‘s standards.‖ As to the law that a 14-year-old is too young to refuse a
transfusion, the extremely articulate teenager asserts: ―You can have an abortion and get
birth-control pills and there‘s no law against that.‖ (Jane Armstrong, Globe and Mail,
Internet, 5/10/05)
Transfusion Order Has “Whiff of Religious Bigotry”
―The state-instigated, court-backed campaign to force blood transfusions on a thoughtful
and tearfully reluctant adolescent smacks of judicial callousness and bureaucratic arrogance,
with just a whiff of religious bigotry.
―The girl is not about to die, and a New York hospital is ready to give her the treatment she
needs without violating her religious objection to receiving transfusions. Her family,
moreover, is caring and loving, so why should Canadian child welfare officials have to
interfere?‖ (Editorial, The Gazette, Montreal, Internet, 5/6/05)
Girl Allowed to Get “Blood Avoidance” Treatment
The British Columbia Supreme Court has ruled that a teenage cancer patient, a Jehovah’s
Witness, can transfer for chemotherapy to a New York hospital that has a ―blood avoidance
program.‖ Physicians there try to do without blood or minimize its use when treating
patients. The transfer was based on an agreement among the director of Child, Family, and
Community Services in British Columbia, the girl, and her parents. British Columbia had
earlier ordered the teenager to submit to blood transfusions if, during the course of her
treatment in the province, doctors deemed it necessary. (CP, Internet, 5/19/05)
Kingston Clan/The Order/Latter Day Church of Christ
Daughter Wants to Return
Polygamist John Daniel Kingston’s 13-year-old daughter, taken into state custody and
sent to live with relatives when he and his wife were adjudged to have abused her, now
wants to live with her mother and other siblings, who still remain apart from Kingston under
court oversight. The girl and a sister, who ran away from home after a dispute with their
parents over ear piercing, have detailed for authorities physical and verbal abuse their
father inflicted on them. (Brook Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 4/30/05)
accounts from people who had left the group were not reliable. (Deutsche Welle World,
Internet, 3/25/05)
Argument against Transfusion
Lawyers for a young Canadian Jehovah’s Witness who does not, on religious grounds,
want to receive a court-ordered blood transfusions if physicians deem they are necessary in
the course of her cancer treatment, argue that she should be allowed to get alternative
treatment at New York‘s Schneider Children‘s Hospital. That facility avoids transfusing
unless the life of the patient is immediately threatened, and because transfusing risks
transmission of hepatitis, HIV, and West Nile Virus. Canadian authorities argue that
transfusions are likely to be necessary in connection with the girl‘s chemotherapy. (Jane
Armstrong, Globe and Mail, Internet, 5/4/05)
Unidentified because she is a 14-year-old minor, the girl says her refusal is ―based on God‘s
word. He told us to abstain from blood and we need to obey his commandments.‖ She said
her faith informs every decision she makes. ―It‘s part of my every day. I don‘t ever stop
thinking about it. Everything that I do, I apply God‘s standard to it. Every decision I make, I
apply God‘s standards.‖ As to the law that a 14-year-old is too young to refuse a
transfusion, the extremely articulate teenager asserts: ―You can have an abortion and get
birth-control pills and there‘s no law against that.‖ (Jane Armstrong, Globe and Mail,
Internet, 5/10/05)
Transfusion Order Has “Whiff of Religious Bigotry”
―The state-instigated, court-backed campaign to force blood transfusions on a thoughtful
and tearfully reluctant adolescent smacks of judicial callousness and bureaucratic arrogance,
with just a whiff of religious bigotry.
―The girl is not about to die, and a New York hospital is ready to give her the treatment she
needs without violating her religious objection to receiving transfusions. Her family,
moreover, is caring and loving, so why should Canadian child welfare officials have to
interfere?‖ (Editorial, The Gazette, Montreal, Internet, 5/6/05)
Girl Allowed to Get “Blood Avoidance” Treatment
The British Columbia Supreme Court has ruled that a teenage cancer patient, a Jehovah’s
Witness, can transfer for chemotherapy to a New York hospital that has a ―blood avoidance
program.‖ Physicians there try to do without blood or minimize its use when treating
patients. The transfer was based on an agreement among the director of Child, Family, and
Community Services in British Columbia, the girl, and her parents. British Columbia had
earlier ordered the teenager to submit to blood transfusions if, during the course of her
treatment in the province, doctors deemed it necessary. (CP, Internet, 5/19/05)
Kingston Clan/The Order/Latter Day Church of Christ
Daughter Wants to Return
Polygamist John Daniel Kingston’s 13-year-old daughter, taken into state custody and
sent to live with relatives when he and his wife were adjudged to have abused her, now
wants to live with her mother and other siblings, who still remain apart from Kingston under
court oversight. The girl and a sister, who ran away from home after a dispute with their
parents over ear piercing, have detailed for authorities physical and verbal abuse their
father inflicted on them. (Brook Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 4/30/05)
