The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has introduced that members can now determine whether or not to simply accept or donate the 4 fundamental parts of blood based mostly on their private conscience.
The organisation made this recognized in a press release issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York, and made out there on its web site on Friday.
According to the assertion, “the decision to accept red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood is a matter of personal conscience.”
It 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.”
However, the organisation mentioned its place on whole-blood transfusion had not modified.
“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 assertion mentioned.
International spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses on the organisation’s World Headquarters, Paul Gillies, mentioned, “Blood stays sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who proceed to treat life and blood as valuable presents from God.
“We recognise that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah.”
The organisation mentioned 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 assertion mentioned, “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.”
Gillies mentioned native congregations wouldn’t intrude in members’ private choices.
“Congregations don’t contain themselves in private choices that relaxation with the person conscience. We will proceed to respect and help the non-public choices of our fellow believers.
“We are grateful, too, for the many skilled and compassionate physicians who provide quality medical care that respects our personal wishes regarding blood,” he mentioned.
The organisation mentioned Jehovah’s Witnesses quantity “over nine million worldwide, in congregations across more than 200 lands.”
In March, it reported that the non secular group had clarified its place on using a member’s blood throughout surgical procedure and different medical procedures.
The clarification allowed particular person Witnesses to determine whether or not their blood may very well be eliminated, saved and returned to them throughout medical therapy, whereas the organisation maintained its place in opposition to receiving blood from one other particular person.
Onyebuchi Ezigbo
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