Jehovah’s Witnesses allow blood component transfusions

The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has said its members can decide, according to their conscience, whether to accept red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or platelets from another person during medical treatment. The organisation disclosed this in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York, and published on its official website on Friday. According to the statement, “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 individual Witnesses must also decide whether to donate blood specifically for the purpose of providing components or fractions for another person’s medical treatment. However, the organisation said its longstanding position against whole-blood transfusions remained unchanged. See more Punch stories on Google.