Jehovah’s Witnesses took my child, father says

Daughter, 16, refused blood transfusions
National Post (Canada), July 23, 2002
http://www.nationalpost.com/utilities/story.html?id={9A782848-4E9D-4229-B0FE-A3754FE9F4AA}
Robert Remington

CALGARY – The father of a dying 16-year-old Jehovah’s Witness who refused blood transfusions is upset that he has not been told the whereabouts of his daughter.

“You’ll never see me walk into another Kingdom Hall. They’ve ruined my life, destroyed my family and my marriage and now they’ve taken her without my knowledge to another country,” he said yesterday.

The girl, who cannot be identified under a court order, left Calgary on the weekend to seek a bloodless alternative treatment at an undisclosed location for acute myeloid leukemia.

She had been under protective custody and forced to take blood transfusions against her will, but the Alberta government dropped its protection order three weeks ago when the treatment proved unsuccessful. Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons.

The girl’s father, who also cannot be named, believes she is in California. “That’s my best guess. I know they found a clinic they liked, but they wouldn’t tell me where it was.”

Wayne McKee, a spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, said the Church is not paying for the girl’s treatment or travel expenses.
(…)

The man is separated from his wife, who adheres to the Church’s teaching, and says he is estranged from his daughter.