Jehovah’s Witnesses Change Policy on Accepting Blood

Jehovah’s Witnesses have changed their position on the use of four blood components in medical treatment, making the decision to accept them a matter of each member’s personal conscience, according to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Governing Body announced the change on September 18, saying it applies to red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma and platelets from another person’s blood. Members can now decide for themselves whether to accept those components during medical or surgical treatment.

According to the Governing Body, individual Witnesses can also decide whether to donate blood specifically for providing components or fractions for another person.

The change does not mean Jehovah’s Witnesses now accept whole-blood transfusions. According to the Governing Body, its long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on religious grounds remains unchanged, based on the biblical command to “abstain from blood.”