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 (http://bit.ly/OZjDix ) 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.
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