At a hearing convened at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center on 16 June 1989, a physician testified that if seventeen-year-old the New York seventeen-year-old resisted transfusion he would tie her to the bed with wrist and leg restraints; the article also records that the trial judge would not let her give evidence on the record, though after visiting her he called her ‘obviously very intelligent’ and ‘capable of expressing herself fully’.
Claim ID claim-blood-1994-moore-restraintsConcerns 16 June 1989Explicit statement
At a hearing convened at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center on 16 June 1989, a physician testified that if seventeen-year-old the New York seventeen-year-old resisted transfusion he would tie her to the bed with wrist and leg restraints; the article also records that the trial judge would not let her give evidence on the record, though after visiting her he called her ‘obviously very intelligent’ and ‘capable of expressing herself fully’. Source: Awake!, 22 May 1994Source: Awake!, 22 May 1994
22 May 1994 · p.11 · par. 24 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
“He further stated that if Crystal tried to resist the transfusions, he would tie her to the bed with wrist and leg restraints to accomplish the procedure. Crystal told the doctors that she would “scream and holler” if they attempted to transfuse her and that as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, she viewed any forcible administration of blood to be as repulsive as rape.”
Evidence at a hearing convened at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, on the morning of 16 June 1989, after the hospital applied to the Supreme Court of the State of New York for authority to transfuse the New York seventeen-year-old, 17, who had inflammatory bowel disease.
Provenance and verification note for Awake!, Youths Who Have “Power Beyond What Is Normal”
Confidence note. Opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and the wording, page marker and paragraph confirmed against the article text.
22 May 1994 · p.11 · pars. 25-26 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
“Despite her attorney’s repeated requests at the hearing, Crystal was denied the opportunity to speak for herself before the court to demonstrate her decision-making ability. … After the visit the trial judge said that Crystal was “obviously very intelligent” and “very articulate” and explained that Crystal “certainly was sound in mind” and “capable of expressing herself fully.””
The article states that the judge visited Crystal in her room for about twenty minutes but would not let her give evidence on the record, and characterises this as a denial of due process, bodily self-determination, privacy and religious freedom.
Provenance and verification note for Awake!, Youths Who Have “Power Beyond What Is Normal”
Confidence note. Opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and the wording, page marker and paragraph confirmed against the article text.
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