Saving a life must come first – SA Council of Churches

The South African Council of Churches (SACC), one of the biggest organisations representing churches in the country, has called on religious leaders and their followers to be flexible and accommodate vital life-saving medical procedures.

SACC reacted to a Mpumalanga father, a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who has been refusing to allow doctors to conduct a blood transfusion if his son has a liver transplant.

In an interview with The Citizen, the father said his 14-year-old son was at home, while the surgery should have been performed three months ago.

One of SACC’s senior members, reverend Luke Dlamini, said as much as religious beliefs should be respected, as stated in the country’s constitution, saving a life must come first.

“It is totally unacceptable to see a child suffering because of this kind of situation.

“Jesus has sacrificed his blood for our sins so, as the organisation, our members are not restricted when it comes to receiving medical attention.”

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On several occasions where matters like this ended up in court, the Jehovah’s Witnesses members did not win their cases.

Some years ago, the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban ruled in favour of doctors giving them permission to offer a blood transfusion to a 10-year-old girl who was a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses church.

The Star reported at the time that Dr Monica Vaithilingum, a paediatric haematologist, approached the Centre for Child Law in Pretoria for assistance, after the parents refused to sign consent forms for a blood transfusion.

In another case in December, a court in Edinburgh, Scotland, gave the green light for a blood transfusion be performed on a teenage Jehovah’s Witness.

The then 14-year-old and her family told the court that they had been refusing to give consent to the process, but the court continued and granted an order that doctors should proceed because the life of the girl was in danger and at risk.