The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced a change in its policy on blood transfusions, allowing members to decide whether to accept or donate the four main components of blood based on their individual conscience.
The organisation disclosed this in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York, and published on its website on Friday.
Under the revised position, members can personally decide whether to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood.
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, Jehovah’s Witnesses stressed that the adjustment did not affect their longstanding position against whole-blood transfusions.
“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 for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, Paul Gillies, said the decision remained consistent with the group’s belief in the sanctity of life and blood.
“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 followed previous changes concerning blood fractions and the use of a member’s own blood during medical procedures.
It explained, “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 group said its members seek professional healthcare rather than faith healing.
“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 added that local congregations would not interfere with members’ individual choices.
“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 have more than nine million members worldwide, with congregations spread across more than 200 lands.
The development comes months after the group clarified its position on the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
Under the earlier clarification, individual Witnesses could decide whether their blood should be removed, stored and returned to them during medical treatment, while the organisation retained its position against receiving blood from another person.
