Doctors at St. Barnabas Hospital had to rush for an emergency court order to perform a transfusion on a 55-year-old woman suffering from internal bleeding on Tuesday. Jean Leslie was admitted to the hospital after doctors at the St. Barnabas nursing home noticed problems with her blood tests, and said her life was in danger if she didn't receive a blood transfusion. But her family are practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, who believe "God and prayer alone" will save her, and wouldn't consent to the procedure.
St. Barnabas spokesman Steven Clark said that it was the first time the hospital had to go to court for an emergency order in eight years, and "the attending physician felt it was urgent that if she didn't get a transfusion, she would die." Leslie's mother and sister are devout Jehovah's Witnesses, but it's unclear if Leslie practices as well. Leslie suffered from a stroke in 2008, and court papers say her speech is "limited to short outbursts of vulgarities."
According to the Wikipedia article "Jehovah's Witnesses and Blood Transfusions," Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible prohibits ingesting blood, and have adapted that rule to refusing to donate blood or accept blood transfusions.
