The Jehovah's Witnesses organisation has adjusted its policy on blood transfusions, announcing that members can now accept or donate whole blood components according to their conscience. The change, revealed in a video broadcast by International Spokesman Paul Gillis, leaves each Witness to determine matters of blood transfusion based on their own judgment.
Gillis said the organisation maintains its stance of abstaining from the transfusion of whole blood based on its scriptural guidance. That abstention has, for decades, extended to the four main blood components: plasma, platelets, white cells, and red cells. But because the scriptures do not specifically comment on these components, decisions surrounding blood transfusion and donation will now be left to each Witness to decide based on individual conscience.
The statement added that the most important factor that should inform such decision-making is the capacity to keep a clean conscience.
The latest adjustment takes the matter further than a directive issued in March 2026. That earlier policy allowed members to save their own blood for future personal use, following decades of prohibiting blood transfusions. It relaxed the organisation's previous guideline that outright banned the removal and transfusion of blood, giving members the power to decide whether to have their blood removed, stored, and transfused for future medical care.
In the rationale for that decision, the organisation stated that the Bible is silent on the use of one's own blood for medical and surgical care, and that each member must decide how to handle matters of their own health.
The new guideline now allows members to elect either to accept blood transfusions from donors or serve as donors to others.
The policy shift has gone viral on social media, where commenters discussed the Church's previous stance, which they considered responsible for the avoidable loss of life among its members. Many referred to the 2025 case of Aunty Esther, a popular personal shopper and Jehovah's Witness member who refused a blood transfusion to treat breast cancer.
Jehovah's Witnesses' distinctive practices have long set them apart among Christian denominations globally. Their position on blood has drawn criticism and led to outright bans in Russia, China, Singapore, and Eritrea, where the church is considered an extremist organisation.
According to Pulse.ng.
