Jehovah’s Witnesses Relax Stance on Blood Components, Leave Decision to Members’ Conscience
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced a significant adjustment to its long-standing position on blood, stating that members may now decide whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood based on their personal conscience.
The organisation made the announcement 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 emphasised that its position on whole-blood transfusion 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.
International spokesman Paul Gillies, of the organisation’s World Headquarters, said: “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 noted that the adjustment follows earlier updates regarding blood fractions and the use of one’s own blood during medical procedures.
“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,” the statement added.
On medical care, the organisation reaffirmed that its members seek the best available treatment. “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 stated that local congregations would not interfere in members’ personal decisions. “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,” he said, expressing gratitude to physicians who provide quality care that respects their wishes regarding blood.
Jehovah’s Witnesses number over nine million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands. The development follows a March report in which the group clarified its position on the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
