Quebec coroner says Jehovah’s Witnesses had right to refuse blood transfusions
MONTREAL — Anyone has the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even if it means certain death, says a Quebec coroner who studied the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two Jehovah’s Witnesses who had recently given birth.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe ingesting blood goes against their beliefs and that they should not accept transfusions or donate their own blood.
“Every person in Quebec has this freedom of choice,” coroner Luc Malouin said in his report, which was made public Tuesday.
“This freedom has been exercised here in accordance with the rules of law. It is up to everyone to make their choices and to fully assume the consequences.”