New Zealand court temporarily removes baby from parents over blood transfusions

A New Zealand court temporarily took away medical custody of a baby from his parents on Wednesday after they refused blood transfusions for him unless donors who had been unvaccinated against Covid - 19.

The court ruling in favor of health authorities places the 4 month-old boy into the guardianship of authorities until after he undergoes an urgently needed heart operation and recovers. The parents are in charge of decisions about their boy that don't relate to the operation.

Anti-vaccine groups, who gathered outside the courtroom this week to present evidence, have embraced the parents legal battle.

High Court Judge Ian Gault accepted the affidavits of health experts who said there had been millions of blood transfusions performed around the world since coronaviruses were introduced, and the vaccines hadn't caused any known harmful effects.

The ruling will be a relief to healthcare groups that collect and use donated blood.

The parents said they had unvaccinated donors willing to give blood for their son's operation, but health authorities argued that such directed donations should only occur in exceptional circumstances, such as for recipients with very rare blood types.

Health authorities also said that the unvaccinated donors wouldn't give them access to all blood products they might need during the boy's surgery.

The parents used discrediting arguments and fringe theories to try to show that mRNA vaccines were unsafe.

The judge said the parents of the baby were loving and wanted the best for their son and accepted that he needed surgery. The judge said that the relationship between the parents and clinicians had suffered and that they should try to improve it before and after surgery and be respectful of each other.

The court rules prevents the baby and parents from being named. The mother was identified as a midwife, according to court documents.