Mum aged 22 dies for Jehovah

PALS of pretty Emma Gough told last night how the devout Jehovah’s Witness cuddled her newborn twins – then died just hours later after refusing a blood transfusion.

Shopgirl Emma, 22 – whose life could have been saved after complications set in – ticked a form before the birth insisting she should not be given blood.

Medics begged husband Anthony, 24, and other members of Emma’s family to overrule her after she suffered severe blood loss and began slipping away.

But because Jehovah’s Witnesses are barred from having transfusions they refused – insisting the young mum would not want to betray her principles.

Stunned friends last night described her grieving husband – a fellow Witness who has been left to bring up the motherless twin boy and girl – as distraught.

More: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article427045.ece

HANDSOME boys and beautiful smiling girls--"Youths Who Put God First"--brighten the magazine cover, making it an issue easy to place in the hands of unsuspecting millions answering the knock at their door. Only upon opening the May 22, 1994 AWAKE! magazine do readers discover that the appealing photos represent kids who died in obedience to the Watchtower Society's ban on blood transfusions.

Posed together in a group portrait in the foreground of Awake!'s cover are three extremely photogenic youngsters. Fifteen-year-old Adrian Yeatts died September 13, 1993, after the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, Canada, declared him a "mature minor" and rejected the Child Welfare department's request for court-ordered transfusions. Twelve-year-old Lenae Martinez died in California on September 22, 1993, after the Valley Children's Hospital ethics committee ruled her a "mature minor" and decided not to seek a court order.

Twelve-year-old Lisa Kosack died (no date given) in Canada after holding off transfusion therapy by threatening that she "would fight and kick the IV pole down and rip out the IV no matter how much it would hurt, and poke holes in the blood." (page 13)

Did the Watchtower Society actually summon Adrian, Lenae, and Lisa for a group photo session in morbid anticipation of their martyrdom? Evidently not, since each is shown in the identical pose in separate photos with different backgrounds on pages 3, 9, and 12 of the magazine. The group portrait was produced, no doubt, in the photocomposition lab at the sect's Brooklyn headquarters. Individual photos of 23 other attractive youths fill the background on Awake!'s cover. These other youngsters are neither named nor discussed, but the implication is that they too all died refusing blood products.

More: http://www.cftf.com/comments/kidsdied.html

"In former times thousands of youths died for putting God first. They are still doing it, only today the drama is played out in hospitals and courtrooms, with blood transfusions the issue."--AWAKE! May 22, 1994, page 2

Listened to a spokesman for the Jehovah's witnesses on the news last night.

He had a bible with him, opened it, and quoted Acts 15v29.

He pointed out that it says to abstain from idols, sexual immorality and blood.

He then said how can we obey two of those and not the other, refering to the blood.

In this day and age of euthanasia, why is there such a concern over the death of this woman?

The family even agreed to it, they witheld her from the transfusion which could have saved her life.

Is it because she was 22 and not 82?

The thing is, whether a person is a Christian or not, we all have it in built, wired within us, that this practice is wrong.

In Matt 12, Mark 3 and Luke 6 Jesus is about to heal a man with a withered hand.

He asks a question before He does, '...I will ask you one thing, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?'

That is the kind of question that is an answer in itself.

The scripture in Acts about abstaining from blood refers to eating blood not transfusions.

There were no transfusions back then, as far as we know.

The taking of blood to save a life, according to the scriptures in Matt, Mark and Luke, would not be wrong.

And with the Jehovah witnesses view on hell, I wonder where they suppose that young woman is right now.

God bless.

It seems to me we have two issues here, unrelated to each other:
1. Does the Scriptures forbid blood transfusions?
2. Does the state have the right to impose its will onto its citizens who would have an opinion to the contrary, for whatever reason?

To #1, I agree with the thoughts shared.

However, if anyone desires to refuse blood transfusions, why should we get upset? Blood tranfusions have not been done all that long...we have opinions on why it is ok to do so, but it is not essential for eternal life, is it?

Personally, I am becoming disturbed when someone else tells me I have to do submit to this or that medical treatment regardless of my own wishes in the matter. How long will it be until we have NO say? Childhood immunizations are now required by law before a child can enter school. And these are controversial... I have a cousin whose two boys acquired a severe case of diabetes after getting their shots....And who pays for it?

The short of the long is I see our freedoms being taken away when the individual is being shamed for refusing medical treatment for whatever reason.

ginnyrose

Regardless if she is a witness or not, this is her right to refuse the blood. I disagree with her motives for refusal, but it is her right to refuse. Jesus gives us the choice to come to Him, Jesus gave her a choice.

She chose wrong...eternally.