KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) A Kansas woman’s victory in a religious freedom case came too late for her to get a life-saving liver transplant.
Mary Stinemetz of Hill City is terminally ill with chronic liver disease.
The 65-year-old woman is a Jehovah’s Witness, a religion that forbids blood transfusions. She won a legal battle last year that forced the state to pay for a transplant in Nebraska that did not require a blood transfusion.
Kansas officials had argued that a bloodless transplant was not a medical necessity, and Steinmetz’s religion should not determine insurance coverage.
The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday the legal victory came too late for Stinemetz. By the time she won, her condition deteriorated so much that she was not eligible for a new liver.
