In April 1986 a sister in Florida sought medical care for uterine bleeding. She informed the hospital that she would not accept blood under any circumstances. A hearing was conducted, and the judge authorized blood transfusions because the sister was the mother of two teenage sons who needed her as a nurturing parent. Although blood was administered, the case was appealed. On March 16, 1989, the Florida Supreme Court ruled six to one in favor of the Witness patient. This decision affirmed the right of adult Jehovah’s Witnesses to refuse blood transfusions even if they are the parents of minor children. In a special concurring opinion, two of the Florida Supreme Court justices went so far as to take excerpts from the Society’s brief verbatim and adopt them as their opinion.

New York State was the scene of another case, one in which a Witness who is a mother received a court-ordered blood transfusion. Posed before the court was the question: Can a patient be forced to submit to treatment against her will for the sake of her minor children? No, answered the New York Court of Appeals on January 18, 1990. The court stated: “In sum, the patient, as a competent adult, had a right to determine the course of her own treatment, which included the right to decline blood transfusions.”