Jehovah's Witnesses Battle Blood Transfusions in Canadian Hospital

TORONTO, Feb 1 - A clash between religious beliefs and the government's responsibility to protect children is playing out in a Vancouver hospital, where government officials have seized the babies of a Jehovah's Witness couple in order to give them blood transfusions.

The drama began Jan. 7, when six premature babies were born to parents who are devout Jehovah's Witnesses. Two of the six babies have since died.

Doctors warned that the remaining babies would likely need life-saving blood transfusions, a procedure that is forbidden for Witnesses.

Social workers from the British Columbia government seized three of the remaining four babies last weekend, just long enough to give two of them blood transfusions, over their parents' objections.

On Tuesday (Jan. 30), a lawyer for the parents appeared in court ready to appeal the government's decision to seize the children, only to find that officials had already returned the children to the parents' care.

The three seized babies remain in the neonatal ward at Women's and Children's Hospital. All four remaining babies are in stable condition.

The parents, who have not been identified, have filed a court action requesting a hearing before the Supreme Court of British Columbia to challenge the province's conduct. A hearing is set for Feb. 23.

"The family appealed what the government did and has brought an application for judicial review, saying that the government violated what the Supreme Court of Canada said 10 years ago," the parents' lawyer, Shane Brady, told Canadian Press.

Canada's Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that a child's right to essential medical care trumps a parent's right to religious expression.

But the ruling also gave parents the right to present evidence at a hearing in such matters.

In an affidavit filed by the father, the parents quote Scriptures that Jehovah's Witnesses say forbid them from having blood transfusions.

"What the government did is wrong," Brady said. "The father described it to me like this -- it's a hit and run."

The parents have said they would not oppose "alternative medical treatments" for their children.

"Our obligation to protect children is paramount," said British Columbia's Children and Families Minister Tom Christensen, who said he could not discuss details of this case.