The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced a change in its guidance on blood, allowing individual members to decide, according to their personal conscience, whether to accept or donate the four main 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, Jehovah’s Witnesses can now make personal decisions regarding the acceptance of red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma and platelets from another person.
“The decision to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter of personal conscience,” the organisation said.
It added that individual Witnesses must also decide whether to donate blood specifically for the purpose of providing components or fractions for medical use by another person.
However, the organisation clarified that its long-standing position against the transfusion of whole blood 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, an international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s World Headquarters, said blood continues to be regarded as sacred by members of the faith.
“Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God,” Gillies said.
He explained that decisions concerning medical treatment involving blood components would now be left to individual members based on their personal conscience and relationship with God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah,” he said.
The organisation said the latest clarification follows previous updates concerning blood fractions and the medical use of a person’s own blood.
It explained that because the Bible does not specifically address such medical decisions, individual members are expected to make their own choices based on conscience.
“That same reasoning has now been extended to the four main components of blood,” the organisation stated.
Jehovah’s Witnesses also emphasised that the religious group supports conventional medical treatment and does not practise 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,” the statement said.
Gillies added that local congregations would not interfere in decisions that the organisation now considers matters of individual conscience.
“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 medical professionals who provide treatment while respecting patients’ decisions regarding blood.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses have more than nine million members worldwide, with congregations spread across more than 200 countries and territories.
The new clarification means individual Witnesses may decide whether to accept or donate the four main blood components, while the organisation’s prohibition on receiving whole blood from another person remains in place.
