Parents have refused vaccinated blood transfusions for their baby ahead of potentially life-saving open heart surgery.
A four month old baby boy is at the centre of a court case in New Zealand as his parents demand any blood comes from people who have not had the Covid vaccine.
New Zealand’s Blood Service said it did not keep blood for vaccinated and unvaccinated donors separate and there was no risk from the Covid vaccine.
The mother told reporters outside the High Court: “We are desperate to have the operation but we need to have safe blood. That is my right as a mother.”
She said having to deal with a court case was “massive” on top of having to feed twins, she said.
“I wanted to see the judge as well, and for the judge to see my baby.”
About 100 people gathered in support of the baby’s parents outside the front of the court’s entrance holding placards.
The NZ Herald is reporting that the local health authority Te Whatu Ora is applying for guardianship of the child so they can go ahead with the vital surgery that could have taken place weeks ago.
About 100 people gathered in support of the baby’s parents outside the front of the court’s entrance holding placards.
Josephine Johnstone, a lecturer in bioethics, told RNZ it was very rare for a case to get this far.
“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,” she said.
“But there are limits to that, and this is one of those tragic cases where the limit has life and death consequences.”
The parent’s lawyer, Sue Grey, said the parents want better care than what the state is offering.
“Because they label my clients as conspiracy theorists, [their position] is that anything my clients say can be ignored,” she told the court.
The parents say the child needs open-heart surgery after being diagnosed with “severe pulmonary valve stenosis”.
The New Zealand Heart Foundation described stenosis as when one of the heart’s valves doesn’t open properly, meaning pressure and blood could back up and cause strain on the heart.
Representing Te Whatu Ora, lawyer Paul White flagged the urgency of the case saying medical professionals have said the child with such a condition would have been treated several weeks ago.
