BLOOD-TRANSFUSIONS IN JEHOVAH-WITNESSES

Jehovah Witnesses cite religious motives to refuse transfusions of whole blood or its components for themselves and their children, even when life is endangered. An ethical analysis of decision making in health problems is made, giving priority to the alternatives chosen by the patient. One of the elements that turns a therapeutic procedure into extraordinary is the moral impossibility of its use, originated in a subjective cause. The right to act with freedom in religious matters must also be considered. It is concluded that the denial of a Jehovah Witness to be transfused must be respected. However, in the case of children, the physicians should disregard the parents rejection.