RismadarVoice Reporters
September 19, 2026
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has announced a change to its policy on blood, allowing members to decide, according to their individual conscience, whether to accept or donate the four major components of blood.
The organisation disclosed the change in a statement issued by its World Headquarters in Warwick, New York, and published on its website on Friday.
Under the revised position, individual Witnesses may decide whether to accept red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or platelets from another person.
They may also choose whether to donate blood specifically for the purpose of providing its components or fractions for another person’s treatment.
The organisation, however, said the change does not extend to transfusions involving whole blood.
“The long-standing refusal of whole-blood transfusions on religious grounds, a core teaching based on the command to ‘abstain from blood’ (Acts 15:20), is unchanged,” the statement said.
Paul Gillies, an international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the organisation’s world headquarters, said the group continued to regard blood and life as sacred.
“Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God,” Mr Gillies said.
He added that decisions concerning medical treatment involving blood components were matters for individual members to make in accordance with their conscience and religious beliefs.
The organisation said the latest adjustment followed earlier changes concerning blood fractions and the use of a person’s own blood during medical procedures.
It said the Bible does not provide specific guidance on decisions involving the four major blood components, making such choices matters of individual conscience.
“That same reasoning has now been extended to the four main components of blood,” the statement said.
Jehovah’s Witnesses also said their religious position did not prevent members from seeking conventional medical treatment.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and want the best available medical care. They do not practise faith healing, and they seek out doctors who can provide effective treatment in accord with their wishes, values and beliefs,” the statement said.
Mr Gillies said local congregations would not intervene in individual decisions regarding blood treatment.
“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers,” he said.
He also expressed appreciation to medical professionals who provide treatment consistent with patients’ wishes concerning blood.
The organisation said Jehovah’s Witnesses have more than nine million members worldwide, spread across congregations in more than 200 countries and territories.
The latest announcement follows an earlier clarification concerning the use of a member’s own blood during surgery and other medical procedures.
Under that position, individual Witnesses may decide whether their blood can be removed, stored and subsequently returned to them during treatment, while the organisation retained its prohibition on receiving blood from another person.
