The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has declared that members can now decide whether to accept or give the four main components of blood based on their personal conscience.
The organization announced this in a statement that was posted on its website on Friday and released by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York.
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 also 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.”
The organisation said its position on whole-blood transfusions had not changed.
“Blood remains sacrosanct to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as valuable gifts from God,” Paul Gillies, an international spokesperson for the organisation at its World Headquarters, said.
“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.”
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 care, the statement said, “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.”
Backstory…
Recall that in March, Gerrit Kösch, a member of the Jehovah’s Witness Governing Body, stated in a video statement posted on their website that the clarification is intended to provide Christians the autonomy to choose whether or not to use their own blood for operations or other medical procedures.
He underlined that although abstaining from blood is a doctrinal requirement for Christians, the Bible makes no mention of utilising one’s own blood for medicinal purposes.
Read Also: Jehovah’s Witnesses Ease Strict Blood Transfusion Doctrine, Permit Self-Donation
