Jehovah’s Witnesses have announced an adjustment to their policy on blood transfusions, allowing members to decide based on personal conscience whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood.
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses disclosed the
change in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York,
and published on its website on Friday.
According to the statement, “the decision to accept red
cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter
of personal conscience.”
It added that “each Witness must decide whether or not to
donate blood for the clearly expressed purpose of providing components or
fractions for use by another person.”
However, the organisation stressed that its longstanding
position against whole-blood transfusions remains unchanged.
“The long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on
religious grounds, a core teaching based on the command to ‘abstain from blood’
(Acts 15:20), is unchanged,” the statement said.
Paul Gillies, international spokesman for Jehovah’s
Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, said the group continues to
regard blood as sacred.
“Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue
to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood
components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God,
Jehovah.”
The organisation said the latest adjustment “follows earlier
updates regarding blood fractions and the use of one’s own blood during medical
procedures.”
It added, “Since the Bible does not comment on such
decisions, they are a matter of individual conscience. That same reasoning has
now been extended to the four main components of blood.”
On medical treatment, the organisation said its members seek
professional healthcare while maintaining their religious convictions.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and want the best available
medical care. They do not practise faith healing, and they seek out doctors who
can provide effective treatment in accord with their wishes, values and
beliefs.”
Gillies said individual congregations would not intervene in
members’ personal decisions concerning blood components.
“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal
decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect
and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers.
“We are grateful, too, for the many skilled and
compassionate physicians who provide quality medical care that respects our
personal wishes regarding blood,” he said.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses number “over nine
million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands.”
The latest announcement follows a clarification issued by
the religious group in March concerning the use of a member’s own blood during
surgery and other medical procedures.
That clarification allowed individual Witnesses to decide
whether their blood could be removed, stored and returned to them during
medical treatment, while the organisation retained its position against
receiving blood from another person.
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