Jehovah’s Witnesses Leave Acceptance of Blood Components to Individual Conscience

Jehovah’s Witnesses will now leave the acceptance of blood components to the conscience of each member, the group’s Governing Body announced on 18 September 2026 in Warwick, New York. Members are to decide for themselves whether to accept erythrocytes, leukocytes, plasma or thrombocytes taken from other people’s blood. Whether a member donates blood so that components or fractions can be obtained from it for others is likewise now a personal matter of conscience.

The community’s rejection of whole-blood transfusions remains in place. The group regards this as a central doctrine of faith, based on the biblical command to abstain from blood. International spokesman Paul Gillies said that blood is still sacred to members. Medical decisions about blood components, he said, are a matter between the individual and God, and the congregation does not interfere in them.

According to the statement, the change extends a principle the community had already applied to blood fractions and to the use of autologous blood in medical procedures, and now covers the four main components of blood. The statement also said that members reject faith healing and seek effective treatment that is compatible with their convictions.

For treatment teams, the change means that a patient’s religious affiliation alone no longer allows a conclusion about whether the patient will refuse blood products. The individually expressed will of the patient is decisive, a matter of honest dealing with each person in care (Proverbs 11:1).

The community states that it has more than 9 million members in over 200 countries worldwide.

Source: Read the original report (translated from German)