Separation of Church and Health?

After blogging about the CDC restriction on homosexual males donating organs, I started thinking about how Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions during organ transplant surgeries, which is a vitally important part of the surgery and recovery process. A good friend of mine is a cardiologist, and when I asked him about this, he responded that many such surgeries are unsuccessful. My initial reaction was that this just wasn't fair - that there are thousands of people on transplant lists who would have much higher chances at success. It seemed to me that religion, which in my opinion should not have a place in science, is a solid part of society in the United States.

An article entitled, "Are Scientists Playing God? It Depends on Your Religion", reported that American and European researchers have made most of the progress so far in biotechnology. Yet they still face one very large obstacle — God, as defined by some Western religions. Some scientists who are frustrated with the governmental debate over the morality of stem-cell research and genetic engineering have in fact moved to Asia, which offers researchers new labs, fewer restrictions and a different view of divinity and the afterlife. “Asian religions worry less than Western religions that biotechnology is about ‘playing God,’” says Cynthia Fox, the author of “Cell of Cells,” a book about the global race among stem-cell researchers. “Therapeutic cloning in particular jibes well with the Buddhist and Hindu ideas of reincarnation.” Most of southern and eastern Asia displays relatively little opposition to either cloned embryonic stem-cell research or genetically modified crops. China, India, Singapore and other countries have enacted laws supporting embryo cloning for medical research (sometimes called therapeutic cloning, as opposed to reproductive cloning intended to recreate an entire human being).

In another article entitled, "Children's health can't be left to faith alone," the author argues that when parents won't seek medical care, they must be punished by law. This was in response to a case where a 15 month old baby died from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection, problems easily treated with antibiotics; however, she received no antibiotics because her parents belong to a small fundamentalist sect, The Followers of Christ Church, and do not believe in antibiotics. The Followers believe that faith will heal all and that death, if it comes, it is God’s will. While their baby struggled for days to breathe, her parents prayed, never calling a doctor, an ambulance or 911. I agree with the author that any adult has and should have the right to refuse medical care. I also agree with him that society must make the protection of children a core value, and the way to do that is to make it clear that child neglect is still neglect, even when performed under the cover of religious faith.

I am very interested to see how the separation between church and state evolves under the Obama presidency, and where this takes stem cell research. America is on the verge of scientific breakthrough, and I think it should heed the message when some of its most important researchers are moving across the world in the name of science. Religious freedom is revered in the United States, but health should be given as much deference.