by jwfacts 47 Replies latest watchtower medical
"When making such decisions, consider the following questions. Am I aware that refusing all blood fractions means that I will not accept some medications, such as certain ones that fight viruses and disease or that help blood to clot in order to stop bleeding. Could I explain to a physician why I reject or accept the use of certian blood fractions?"
They are throwing it all back on the publisher like they have always done. Bastards!!!!!!!
Yeah, makes me angry too.
j
"When making such decisions, consider the following questions. Am I aware that refusing all blood fractions means that I will not accept some medications, such as certain ones that fight viruses and disease or that help blood to clot in order to stop bleeding. Could I explain to a physician why I reject or accept the use of certian blood fractions?"
They are throwing it all back on the publisher like they have always done. Bastards!!!!!!!
Yeah, makes me angry too.
Ditto
Tell me if I understood that thing in the first post correct: JWs are now allowed to take each and every fraction (all the differenet components in the blood) as long as it is divided up into fractions first, and they don`t get "whole blood" (as in "all of it") at the same time? Is that about right? Or have I misunderstood?
Hellrider,
JWs are now allowed to take each and every fraction (all the differenet components in the blood) as long as it is divided up into fractions first
Yes.
You see, originally "Fractions" was a term used to describe plasma proteins and the JW's built an ad hoc system of rationalization around this fact. JW's taught for example that since plasma proteins were exchanged between mother and fetus, then it was O.K. to accept them.
However since medical science is finding more and more ways to fractionate blood and more and more uses for these "New" fractions, the JW's have had to adapt. Hemoglobin for example only exists safely encapsulated within red blood cells. Therefore the maternal/fetal relationship can't be made to serve as a rationalization for the acceptance of hemoglobin. What to do?
JW's have now (Since 2000) adopted blood banking terminology as their yardstick. Whole blood and "Primary components" (Red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma) are forbidden. Everything else is allowed.
I wrote and told the Society years ago how to get out of the blood medical dilemma and it looks like they're doing a version of my suggestion. (Probably not due to me.) I told them to keep the blood teachings but change the shunning doctrine and then QUIT writing about it like they did the vaccinations ban.
Gary
I agree that it looks like they are slowly watering down the blood doctrine in order to slip out of it completely. Unless a perfect non blood substitute arrives on the scene I expect that over the next few years blood transfusions will become a conscience matter and then not mentioned again.
Just as they did with vaccinations and organ transplants. "Sorry about the needless deaths, but in a few decades no one will even remember."
So according to current JW law, I CAN take a blood transfusion...it just has to be broken down into small parts, and given a little at a time.
So according to current JW law, I CAN take a blood transfusion...it just has to be broken down into small parts, and given a little at a time.
Spot on. What is interesting about this is that blood transfusions are rarely given. The UK Blood bank site states http://www.blood.co.uk/pages/e17compn.html
Whole blood
This is your blood in its natural state, and something we very rarely use. It's much more useful to us to have it separated into components.
So the WTS is easing their way into allowing blood transfusions, knowing that not allowing whole blood is not much of an issue anymore. The main change they still need to make (and possibly the next step) is to allow transfusions of major blood fractions such as red blood cells, and then JWs will stop dieing needlessly.
However since medical science is finding more and more ways to fractionate blood and more and more uses for these "New" fractions, the JW's have had to adapt
TD, ok.
Jesus, talk about making the day unecessary hard for the doctors: "Yes doctor, I can take ...(list of all the different little components of blood)...but only one fraction at a time. Yes, that is correct, you have to split it up into its different components, thank you".
....talk about making the day unecessary hard for the doctors...
LOL. Not only hard, but utterly incomprehensible as well.
According to current JW policy, a patient voluntarily connected by IV to an inverted 500ml bag of 5% albumin solution is simply excercising his or her conscience, but a patient voluntarily connected by IV to an inverted 500ml bag of whole plasma has broken God's law and would have "disassociated themselves" by this action
Yet technically, both procedures are transfusions. The only difference is that whole plasma contains additional proteins which JW policy also allows.
