Do you think Jehovah's Witnesses should be forced into accepting blood if their condition or that of their loved one is life threatening even if they don't want to? Is life too precious to risk it when blood is going to save them despite what they believe. Should someone be allowed to die when there is blood available that may save them? I know of a blood alternative but don't know of it's success rate compared with real blood.

Or do you believe that everyone has the right to make their own choice. I don't know a lot about the subject but I think I read somewhere that someone who accepts blood can often be outcast by their family and community.

Do you think doctors should give blood no matter what the patients beliefs?

I'm a firm believer that euthanasia should be legal in this country, which would certainly go against a Jehovah's belief I think, but I see refusing blood as a similar but different incident. So it would be quite hypocritical for me to force someone to accept a blood transfusion when they are against it. We consider life precious and I accept that it likely is, until you look around you, life is being created and taken all the time. Every person unless judged to have a mental condition should have the right to refuse medical treatment, that should be fundamental.

My own reservations is this area the children, I'm a firm believer that no child should be forced to follow a religious belief or stick to their teachings until they can make up their own mind. So a child being refused a blood transfusion (yes I know there are alternatives) doesn't sit well with me at all. I would actually think it's selfish to impose your beliefs on a child. I find it hard to swallow.

We can't make doctors the be all and end all, the rights of the patient have to be fundamental. Unless the patient is deemed unable to make a correct decision (almost certainly the patient wanting to die but the doctor disagreeing).

I think that Jehovah's Witnesses have the right to refuse blood if they wish - although i disagree with their view.

 However, I think that children of Jehovah's Witnesses should be given blood if it saves their lives, as i feel that they have not got the ability to make a completely informed choice when thay are say, under 14/16 years of age.

Hi

I firmly believe in the right of everyone to make their own decisions based on their beliefs,ethics etc and nobody has the right to overule this unless there are serious doubts about that persons mental capacity. We have the right to refuse any treatment at anytime, whether lifesaving or not.

At the end of the day having the right to make an informed choice is one of the few areas where we have ultimate control. Any doctor found guilty of forcing treatment on a patient is guilty of assault and would be punished accordingly, it is why we have to sign consent forms before any invasive medical procedure.

However like the others I do disgree that a parent has the right to force their views on their children, until a child is demed mentally and emotionally capable of making their own informed choice (and that will vary greatly) then doctors usually will go ahead, even if a court order is required. I fully believe that we each have the right to make decisions controlling our own life, even if that means dying because a medical procedure is refused, but I don't think we can make it for anyone else except in the most  unusual circumstances.