"That ye abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well." (Acts 15:29)
By PAULINE ARRILLAGA
Associated Press
CARROLLTON, Texas—To refuse a blood transfusion even in the face of death may seem a parallel to suicide. To Jehovah's Witnesses, it is an affirmation of their faith.
That doctrine has posed a problem for many Witnesses who have been unable to find physicians willing to treat them in accordance to their beliefs.
But, as the medical profession becomes better informed on blood transfusions, including the risks involved with blood-transmitted diseases, a method of surgery targeting the unique needs of Jehovah's Witnesses is becoming more common.
Known as "bloodless surgery," the procedure has become the basis of about 20 programs in the United States that aim to provide health care to Jehovah's Witnesses without forcing them to compromise their beliefs.
In bloodless surgery, there is no administration or transfusion of blood or blood products to the patient.
"This was designed to offer a program to people who have religious reasons not to accept blood transfusions," said Dr. H. Jane Chihal, chief of staff at Trinity Medical Center in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton.
"The Jehovah's Witnesses are not against medical care at all.... It's just this particular issue sometimes prevents them from getting the quality medical care that we try to offer to all of our patients," Chihal said.
Trinity began its bloodless surgery program in September after hospital executives were approached by a committee of Dallas-Fort Worth Jehovah's Witnesses. About 20,000 Witnesses live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The program outlines specific guidelines by which Witnesses are treated at the hospital. When a Witness comes in for treatment, they sign an agreement that no blood or blood products will be administered under any circumstances.
A nurse liaison then is on call 24 hours a day to find a doctor who will treat a Jehovah's Witness under the guidelines.
"Individuals might think this means, but Jehovah's Witnesses have a very high regard for life," said Jared Hardie, who represents Jehovah's Witnesses on a hospital liaison committee. "We are not desirous of being martyrs of our faith; we very actively seek the best medical treatment."
While some individual doctors have been practicing bloodless medicine since the early '80s, it wasn't until 1987 when a hospital developed an entire program dedicated to the issue.
The Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago has been a leader for bloodless surgery programs in the United States.
"There are 22 programs in the United States and about 10 to 15 hospitals are in the process of setting up centers," said Jan Castro Graziani, coordinator of the Chicago center.
"Hopefully, we'll never be in (a life-or-death) position, but you agree that you will not transfuse this individual—no matter what," Chihal said. "It's their life, they have the right to determine if it's right for them. It's a difficult ethical consideration."
Hardie adds: "This whole matter is not an expression in any way of a right to die, but rather it's a right of choice that Jehovah's Witnesses are expressing."