Canada: Jehovah’s Witnesses Being Sued

Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in using blood products, including blood transfusions. This sometimes leads to a person dying who could have otherwise been saved and, in the case of the Bethany Hughes, her father is suing the Jehovah's Witnesses for encouraging her to refuse needed medical treatment.

CTV reports:

Bethany Hughes died at age 17 on Sept. 5, 2002, after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer seven months earlier. In his statement of claim, Hughes says his former wife Arliss Hughes and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society -- the organization that represents the Jehovah's Witness religion -- "overtly influenced Bethany to believe that blood transfusions were wrong and would not help cure her cancer."

The lawsuit also alleges "the Watch Tower defendants committed the (civil wrongs) of deceit and undue influence, all of which contributed to and led to the circumstances causing the death of Bethany." ... When Bethany was diagnosed with leukemia at age 16, Lawrence Hughes split with the Jehovah's Witnesses and his wife over her treatment. He said the transfusions should be undertaken if that was the only way to save her.

I don’t know the specifics of Canadian law, but it seems unlikely that this lawsuit will get anywhere. Bethany may have been influenced by the Jehovah’s Witnesses to believe something harmful and wrong, but that doesn’t provide much of a basis for a lawsuit, does it?

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