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AssociatedAssociatedJehovah’s WitnessesJehovah’s WitnessesReform onReform on BloodBloodforfor
ajwrb.org
February 2, 2007
Jehovah’s Witnesses are deeply concerned for the welfare of surviving sextuplets recently born in Vancouver,
British Columbia.
The religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses is controlled by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
of Pennsylvania, Inc. as it acts in behalf of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This organization has
initiated a doctrinal policy on blood which is inconsistent with the best standards of patient care.
Though in many cases blood transfusion therapy is unnecessary to protect patient life and health, in some
cases it is essential because of patient presentation or available medical options. No reputable doctor disagrees.
The Watch Tower organization has admitted that adherence to its blood doctrine has resulted in premature
deaths of children. To quote the Watch Tower organization,
“In former times thousands of youths died for putting God first. They are still doing it, only today the
drama is played out in hospitals and courtrooms, with blood transfusions the issue.”—Awake! - May
22, 1994, p.2 (Official Watch Tower publication)
Under the religious banner of “putting God first,” the Watch Tower organization asserts and enforces a blood
doctrine that has, admittedly, resulted and continues resulting in premature deaths of innocent children where
the best medical option of blood transfusion is necessary to preserve life, or it is the best available option to
prevent premature death.
Every person should be deeply concerned when a religious institution enforces a doctrine instructing its members to refuse established standards of care for a particular medical presentation.
Associated Jehovah’s Witnesses for Reform on Blood does not enforce or promote religious doctrine. It exists
as a voice of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are concerned that the Watch Tower organization has consistently resisted answering for specific failings of its blood doctrine. The overwhelming consensus of these Jehovah’s
Witnesses is that a doctrine with such dire consequence deserves to have every question of it answered
straightforwardly, with precision and consistent with sound science. Though these Jehovah’s Witnesses recognize and appreciate that some causes are worth dying for, these also recognize that such causes demand solid
and sound objective reason and full disclosure in the face of every question asked. The absence of such reason
and disclosure naturally results in sobering pause and questioning by every responsible person.
There is not uniform acceptance of the Watch Tower’s blood doctrine among Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Watch
Tower organization promotes a myth when it argues that all Jehovah’s Witnesses hold the same conviction on
this point of doctrine. The Watch Tower organization does not form its doctrinal teachings on a consensus of
conviction among Jehovah’s Witnesses. Division of conviction among Jehovah’s Witnesses in regard to blood
transfusion has existed from the earliest days of the doctrine, and it persists to this day.
For further information please visit our web site at ajwrb.org.