HOW CAN BLOOD SAVE YOUR LIFE?

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES THE SURGICAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

WITNESS POSITION ON THERAPY

Jehovah's Witnesses accept medical and surgical treatment. In fact, scores of them are physicians, even surgeons. But Witnesses are deeply religious people who believe  that blood transfusion is forbidden for them by God's Word/Biblical passages such as:  "Only flesh with it soul-its blood-you must not eat" (Genesis 9:3-4; Leviticus 17:10-14 ); "[You must] pour its blood out over it with dust"  (Leviticus 17:13-14)' and "Abstain from . . . fornication and from what is strangled and from blood." (Acts 15:19-21). 

While these verses are not stated in medical terms, Witnesses view them as ruling out transfusion of whole blood, packed RBCs, and plasma, as well as WBC and platelet administration.  However, Witnesses' religious understanding does not absolutely  prohibit the use of  components such as albumin, immune globulins, and hemophiliac preparations; each Witness must decide individually if he can accept these. 

Witnesses believe that blood removed from the body should be disposed of, so they do not accept autotransfusion of predeposited blood. Techniques for intrapoperative collection or hemodilution that involve blood storage are objectionable to them. However, many Witnesses permit the use of dialysis and heart-lung equipment (non-blood prime) as well as intraopertive salvage where the extracorporeal circulation is uninterrupted; the physician should consult with the individual patient as to what his conscience dictates.   The Witnesses do not feel that the Bible comments directly on organ transplants; hence, decisions regarding cornea, kidney, or other tissue transplants must be made by the individual Witness.  

Next time: JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES THE SURGICAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE - MAJOR SURGERY POSSIBLE

From the Watchtower magazine