Jehovah’s Witnesses: Between Patient Autonomy and Paternalism

Abstract:     
The refusal of Jehovah's Witnesses to agree to blood or blood product transfusion based on religious beliefs is one of the most interesting conflicts between the duty of beneficence (and the duty to preserve the life) and the freedom of religion. Such conflict is a product of the ideological and religious diversity in society today. I review the reasons why Jehovah's Witnesses refuse transfusion and discuss the ethical and legal. My intention is to justify that in some cases is not justified the respect for the witnesses' decisions of Jehová I support such conclusion in a conception of the personal autonomy in which beliefs minimally rational are necessary to justify the respect for decisions in which is at stake a so important value as the life

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: Bioethics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Doctor-patient relationship, Paternalism, Constitutional Rights, Patient’s rights

Accepted Paper Series