Jehovah’s Witnesses relax blood transfusion rules, allows self-donation

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Jehovah’s Witnesses have announced a major clarification on blood transfusions, giving members the right to choose whether their own blood can be used during surgery or other procedures.

The move maintains the ban on transfusions of another person’s blood but allows individual discretion in life-saving treatments.

Religious reasoning and biblical guidance

In a video statement released on their website on Friday, Governing Body member Gerrit Lösch said the clarification aims to give Christians the freedom to make personal decisions regarding the use of their own blood during surgeries or other medical treatments.

He emphasised that while Christians must abstain from blood as a doctrinal principle, the Bible does not comment on using one’s own blood in medical care. Punch