Jehovah’s Witnesses Announce Adjustment to Blood Transfusion Policy

Jehovah’s Witnesses have announced an adjustment to their long-standing blood transfusion policy, allowing individual members to decide whether to accept or donate four main blood components based on personal conscience.

The organisation’s Governing Body announced the change on Friday, September 18, extending individual decision-making to red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma and platelets obtained from another person.

Under the revised position, each Witness can personally decide whether to accept these blood components during medical or surgical treatment. Members can also decide whether to donate blood when it is clearly intended to be processed into components or fractions for medical treatment.

However, the organisation stressed that its position against whole-blood transfusions has not changed. Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to teach that whole-blood transfusions should be refused on religious grounds, citing the biblical command to “abstain from blood.”

The adjustment represents a significant change in how the organisation approaches the four primary components of blood. Previously, decisions concerning certain blood fractions could be left to conscience, while the four major components remained subject to the organisation’s position.

International spokesman Paul Gillies said blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses and that medical decisions involving blood components are matters of conscience between each individual Witness and God.

The organisation said the latest change follows earlier updates concerning blood fractions and the use of a member’s own blood during medical procedures. In March, Jehovah’s Witnesses announced that members could decide whether to have their own blood removed, stored and later returned during medical or surgical care.

The organisation said its reasoning is based partly on the view that the Bible does not specifically address these medical uses of blood components. Consequently, members are expected to make their own decisions according to conscience.

Jehovah’s Witnesses also said they seek effective medical treatment and do not practise faith healing. Local congregations will not interfere in personal decisions and will respect individual medical choices.

Despite the adjustment, the organisation’s prohibition on whole-blood transfusions remains unchanged. Members are therefore still expected to make personal decisions within the framework of the group’s teachings, while blood components are now treated as matters of individual conscience.

Jehovah’s Witnesses say they have more than nine million members worldwide, across 200 countries and territories.