JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES GIVE MEMBERS PERSONAL CHOICE ON BLOOD COMPONENTS
Read Time:2 Minute, 21 Second
By ‘Balogun Ibrahim
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced that members can now decide, according to their personal conscience, whether to accept or donate the four major components of blood.
The organisation disclosed this in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York, and published on its website on Friday.
According to the statement, decisions on whether to accept red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or platelets from another person are now considered matters of personal conscience.
It also stated that individual Witnesses must decide whether to donate blood specifically for the purpose of providing components or fractions for use by another person.
However, the organisation stressed that its longstanding position against whole-blood transfusions had not changed.
“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, an international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, said blood remained sacred to members of the faith, who continue to regard life and blood as gifts from God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah,” Gillies said.
The organisation said the latest adjustment followed earlier updates concerning blood fractions and the use of an individual’s own blood during medical procedures.
It explained that because the Bible does not specifically address such decisions, they are left to individual conscience. The same principle, it said, had now been extended to the four major components of blood.
On medical treatment, the organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses value life and seek the best available medical care.
“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,” the statement said.
Gillies added that local congregations would not interfere in members’ personal medical 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.
He also expressed appreciation for physicians who provide medical care while respecting Jehovah’s Witnesses’ individual preferences regarding blood.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses have more than nine million members worldwide, with congregations in more than 200 countries and territories.
The latest development follows an earlier clarification in March concerning the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
Under that clarification, individual Witnesses could decide whether their own blood could be removed, stored and later returned to them during medical treatment, while the organisation retained its position against receiving blood from another person.
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