Te Whatu Ora is going to court over a couple who do not want their sick baby to have surgery unless doctors use blood from unvaccinated donors.
Anti-vax campaigner Liz Gunn has posted a video interview with the couple online, apparently from their room at Starship Hospital.
They say the baby urgently needs open heart surgery and they want the blood to come from people who have not had the Covid-19 vaccine.
The NZ Herald is reporting Te Whatu Ora is applying for guardianship of the child.
The health authority told RNZ the decision to make a court application is always made with the best interests of the child in mind and following extensive conversations with the whānau.
It says it knows it can be worrying for parents who have a sick child and who are making decisions about their care.
It would not comment further as the matter is before the courts.
The Blood Service says it did not keep blood for vaccinated and unvaccinated donors separate and there is no risk from the Covid-19 vaccine.
"It's definitely one of those really distressing cases for everyone involved because both the healthcare team and the parents are trying to act in the best interests of the child but they have this really significant disagreement about what that looks like in this case," says University of Otago bioethics lecturer and research scholar Josephine Johnstone.
It's a very rare case that gets this far, she says
"Parents have a lot of decision-making authority over their child's life - there's a huge zone of discretion for parents to make decisions including about medical issues - but there are limits to that, and this is one of those tragic cases where the limit has life and death consequences."
6 comments
Question
Posted on 30-11-2022 12:01 | By Kancho
Am I the only one thinking why they don't donate their own blood or relative who had not vaccinated. Or is it the system cannot incorporate this .? They could be right there with fresh blood especially if already screened
The Law...
Posted on 30-11-2022 13:36 | By morepork
...will do what it is written to do and the parent's wishes will be overridden. We can't just let babies die. But, in my personal opinion, the ultimate authority over ALL children has to be the PARENTS. I would much prefer to see their reservations about the vaccine set to rest, than to have their wishes dismissed. If there cannot be a 100% case made for safety of the vaccine, then they have a point and it should be considered. Maybe they can find some similarly persuaded (unvaxxed) people who will donate for the child. It is not fair or reasonable to expect the public transfusion service to differentiate vaxxed and unvaxxed blood, any more than ethnicity or gender.
Overit
Posted on 30-11-2022 13:53 | By overit
Also unvaxed, I want only " pure blood" (blood without any Phizer, Astrozenica in it.) should I end up in Hospital. Good on Sue Grey, Liz Lambert, Liz Gunn and other Lawyers fighting this. I have just made a donation to their cause.
Do they realise...
Posted on 30-11-2022 14:32 | By fair game
that the COVID vaccine doesn't actually float around in the blood?? What about all the other vaccines like MMR, Hepatitis etc?? I'm sure they could fund their own enterprise to get unvaccinated donors - bearing in mind only 3% of the population is unvaccinated and have most likely had COVID anyway!!!
@overit.
Posted on 02-12-2022 13:51 | By morepork
I respect your courageous honesty. It is not an easy path for you to walk, and, although I disagree with you, I would defend to the death your right to walk it. There is an arrogance in the Government position, based on Tikanga ("Do what the Boss says..."), which is anathema to anyone who cares about Democracy. I believe that dissenters such as yourself were given no proper hearing or respect for their views. It is NOT the "Kiwi way...", which requires a "fair go" for all, even if their position is inconvenient or unpopular.
@Kancho
Posted on 02-12-2022 13:58 | By morepork
I believe that compatible bloodgroups for transfusion are not necessarily guaranteed by the same DNA pool. In other words, there is no guarntee that they have the right bloodgroup to donate to their child. The ABO bloodgroups determine the compatibility, not inheritance.
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