Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions?

Common misconceptions

1) Myth:
Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in medicine or medical treatment.


Fact:
We seek the best possible medical care for ourselves and our families. When we have health problems, we go to doctors who have skill in providing medical and surgical care without blood.

We appreciate advancements that have been made in the medical field. In fact, bloodless treatments developed to help Witness patients are now being used to benefit all in the community.

In many countries, any patient can now choose to avoid blood-transfusion risks, such as blood-borne diseases, immune-system reactions, and human errors.

2) Myth:
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that faith will heal a person’s ailments.

Fact: We do not practice faith healing.

3) Myth:
Avoiding blood transfusions is very costly.

Fact:
Medical treatments that avoid blood transfusions are cost-effective.

4) Myth:
Many Witnesses, including children, die each year as a result of refusing blood transfusions.

Fact:
This statement is totally unfounded. Surgeons regularly perform such complex procedures as heart operations, orthopedic surgery, and organ transplants without the use of blood transfusions.

Patients, including children, who do not receive transfusions usually fare as well as or better than those who do accept transfusions.

In any case, no one can say for certain that a patient will die because of refusing blood or will live because of accepting it.


Why don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses accept blood transfusions?

This is a religious issue rather than a medical one. Both the Old and New Testaments clearly command us to abstain from blood. (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10; Deuteronomy 12:23; Acts 15:28, 29)

Also, God views blood as representing life. (Leviticus 17:14) So we avoid taking blood not only in obedience to God but also out of respect for him as the Giver of life.

Changing viewpoints

Complex surgeries can be successfully performed without blood transfusions

At one time, the medical community generally viewed strategies for avoiding transfusions, so-called bloodless medicine, as extreme, even suicidal, but this has changed in recent years.

For example, in 2004, an article published in a medical education journal stated that “many of the techniques developed for use in Jehovah’s Witness patients will become standard practice in years to come.”

An article in the journal Heart, Lung and Circulation said in 2010 that “‘bloodless surgery’ should not be limited to J[ehovah’s] W[itnesses] but should form an integral part of everyday surgical practice.”

Thousands of doctors worldwide now use blood-conservation techniques to perform complex surgeries without transfusions. Such alternatives to blood transfusions are used even in developing countries and are requested by many patients who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses.

They’ve never given any clear and genuine answer to this. Aside this, they are very morally upright

"The life of every sort of flesh is in it blood" - Leviticus 17:14

To God blood represent life, so since life is sacred blood is also Sacred.

"Keep abstaining from blood" - Act 15:28,29

Genesis 9:4
Leviticus 17:10

Please die in bulk.
Thanks.

What an insight

Jokanem:
"The life of every sort of flesh is in it blood" - Leviticus 17:14

To God blood represent life, so since life is sacred blood is also Sacred.

"Keep abstaining from blood" - Act 15:28,29

Genesis 9:4
Leviticus 17:10

How exactly to you abstain from blood? Why do you abstain from it?

It's something you can't necessarily avoid, don't you cut yourself? Is it that the blood is bad or what? I'm curious...

You take blood from one person and give it to another, how's that bad? You're not taking a life, rather saving one...

Community Faith, community choice.

The Op hasn't even successfully answered the Question. What he should have answered is if the Bible specifically mentioned Blood Transfusion and if there was anything like Blood Transfusion back in the day before the Bible was written. The same Jews who were given this command to abstain from Blood Knew it was referring to ingesting Blood and not Blood Transfusion. The same Jews also take Blood Transfusion today. So, one needs to ask Watchtower how exactly they came up with a Human Sacrifice doctrine that has led to so many lives lost that is more than how many people that die in many destructive Cults. When people call you JWs a Cult, you will get angry not knowing you operate exactly as one. The same Watchtower tells you that you can take Blood fractions but you forget that you need the same blood to get the fractions. Are you really abstaining from Blood this way? How do you intend to get fractions when you don't donate Blood as a JW? Anyways, recent news shows some of you JWs take Blood secretly without anyone knowing except for Nurses and Doctors. You JWs already know this doctrine is nonsense and don't necessarily follow it. The Japanese government are beginning to shine torch on you JWs over there because of how this Human Sacrifice of a Doctrine is having an effect on Young children who can't make decisions.

Esoresor:

They’ve never given any clear and genuine answer to this. Aside this, they are very morally upright

This means you haven't allowed a JW to teach you what we believe.
The Bible said God created humans in his own image {Genesis 1:26} so we believe He should know about our body system much more than any human doctor. Before Noah's time people don't eat flesh it's only vegetables and fruits, when the foods stored inside the Ark has finished God instructed Noah and his family to kill and eat animals but with a strict warning:

Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. Just as I gave you the green vegetation, I give them all to you. Only flesh with its life—its blood—you must not eat. Genesis 9:3-4

This is coming from the Creator Himself as rule guiding us on what shouldn't enter our body if we want to enjoy sound health as long as we live! Act 15:28-29

So if human doctors now says taking in blood into our body system is going to help us we stick to the instruction given by the Maker of our body rather than listening to a doctor whose motto is:
"we care but God heals"
Our full trust regarding sound health and safety of life is in the Creator Himself if we patronize a health official we're not going to give him such 100% trust since he's not the maker of our body all he's going to do is trial and error! Psalms 146:3-6

Thanks, God bless you and may you have PEACE!

MaxInDHouse:


This means you haven't allowed a JW to teach you what we believe.
The Bible said God created humans in his own image {Genesis 1:26} so we believe He should know about our body system much more than any human doctor. Before Noah's time people don't eat flesh it's only vegetables and fruits, when the foods stored inside the Ark has finished God instructed Noah and his family to kill and eat animals but with a strict warning:

Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. Just as I gave you the green vegetation, I give them all to you. Only flesh with its life—its blood—you must not eat. Genesis 9:3-4

This is coming from the Creator Himself as rule guiding us on what shouldn't enter our body if we want to enjoy sound health as long as we live! Act 15:28-29

So if human doctors now says taking in blood into our body system is going to help us we stick to the instruction given by the Maker of our body rather than listening to a doctor whose motto is:
"we care but God heals"
Our full trust regarding sound health and safety of life is in the Creator Himself if we patronize a health official we're not going to give him such 100% trust since he's not the maker of our body all he's going to do is trial and error! Psalms 146:3-6

Thanks, God bless you and may you have PEACE!

You still apply this even when a life is involved? Come on

Esoresor:
You still apply this even when a life is involved? Come on

My guy, it's the Maker who issued this warning so if you feel you're smarter trying to save your life using what He has warned you not to use then you're on your own. It's only when a JW upholds God's word that faithless people do make it a big story but where thousands are dying despite been transfused they won't tell you! Matthew 16:25

The truth is each person's body formation is determined by the mixture of blood from a father and a mother that gives birth to that person. Immediately after conception the fetus has started it's own life any inflow of blood into that place where the fetus is growing will lead to deformities!

The baby must continue feeding on whatever nutrients the mother is getting that why pregnant women are instructed to be careful of whatever they take into their body.

So when the child has come out of the mother the only safe fluid from the mother's body for the child is breast milk, God has prepared this to help the baby continue feeding from the same body in which the fetus grew to that stage.

If after the child has discontinued this process whatever causes a mixture of his or her blood with any other creature be it human or beast will surely lead to a disaster in the future because the body formation which should hing on the blood in that body has been tampered with.

Now there's a clear difference between being WISE and being INTELLIGENT, the intelligent person may find a quick solution to a problem but only the wise thinks of permanent solution to problems. The blood transfusion may seem good from the start just as using excrement as medicine did in ancient times but it will surely lead to another disaster that the intelligent one who suggested it can't find a way out of it!