June 15 2000 WT blood - help please

by twinkletoes 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • twinkletoes
    twinkletoes

    We have a meeting tonight with 2 elders, we are unable to find the WT 15 June 2000 on the subject of bovine blood as a substitute. Is anyone out there who could be kind enough to scan the page and post it on this forum, for me.

    thanking you

    Twink

  • UnDisfellowshipped
    UnDisfellowshipped

    Hi twinkletoes!

    Here is a Link to a Web Page where you can see a Scan of the June 15th 2000 Article with NEW LIGHT ON BLOOD: http://www.jwfiles.com/blood-WT6-15-00.htm

  • UnDisfellowshipped
    UnDisfellowshipped

    Also, check out this Thread for TONS of Watchtower Quotes about their Blood Policy: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=36891&site=3

    Also, here is the text of The Watchtower June 15th 2000 Issue:

    Questions From Readers

    Do Jehovah's Witnesses accept any medical products derived from blood?

    The fundamental answer is that Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood. We firmly believe that God's law on blood is not open to reform to fit shifting opinions. Still, new issues arise be cause blood can now be processed into four primary components and fractions of those components. In deciding whether to accept such, a Christian should look beyond possible medical benefits and risks. His concern should be what the Bible says and the potential effect on his relationship with Almighty God.

    The key issues are quite simple. As an aid to seeing why that is so, consider some Biblical, historical, and medical background.

    Jehovah God told our common ancestor Noah that blood must be treated as something special. (Genesis 9:3, 4) Later, God's laws to Israel reflected the sacredness of blood: "As for any man of the house of Israel or some alien resident ... who eats any sort of blood, I shall certainly set my face against the soul that is eating the blood." By rejecting God's law, an Israelite could contaminate others; thus, God added: "I shall indeed cut him off from among his people." (Leviticus 17:10) Later, at a meeting in Jerusalem, the apostles and older men decreed that we must 'abstain from blood.' Doing so is as vital as abstaining from sexual immorality and idolatry. ?Acts 15:28, 29.

    What would "abstaining" have meant back then? Christians did not consume blood, whether fresh or coagulated; nor did they eat meat from an unbled animal. Also ruled out would be foods to which blood was added, such as blood sausage. Taking in blood in any of those ways would violate God's law. ?] Samuel 14:32, 33.

    Most people in ancient times would not have been troubled over the consuming of blood, as we can see from the writings of Tertullian (second and third centuries C.E.). Responding to false charges that Christians consumed blood, Tertullian mentioned tribes that sealed treaties by tasting blood. He also noted that "when a show is given in the arena, [some] with greedy thirst have caught the fresh blood of the guilty ... as a cure for their epilepsy."

    Those practices (even if some Romans did them for health reasons) were wrong for Christians: "We do not include even animals' blood in our natural diet," wrote Tertullian. The Romans used food-containing blood as a test of the integrity of real Christians. Tertullian added: "Now, I ask you, what sort of a thing is it, that when you are confident [that Christians] will turn with horror from animals' blood, you should suppose them greedy for human blood?"

    Today, few people would think that the laws of Almighty God are at issue if a physician suggested their taking blood. While Jehovah's Witnesses certainly want to keep living, we are committed to obey Jehovah's law on blood. What does this mean in the light of current medical practice?

    As transfusions of whole blood became common after World War 11, Jehovah's Witnesses saw that this was contrary to God's law ?and we still believe that. Yet, medicine has changed over time, Today, most transfusions are not of whole blood but of one of its primary components: (1) red cells; (2) white cells; (3) platelets; (4) plasma (serum), the fluid part. Depending on the condition of the patient, physicians might prescribe red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Transfusing these major components allows a single unit of blood to be divided among more patients. Jehovah's Witnesses hold that accepting whole blood or any of those four primary components violates God's law. Significantly, keeping to this Bible?based position has protected them from many risks, including such diseases as hepatitis and AIDS that can be contracted from blood.

    However, since blood can be processed beyond those primary components, questions arise about fractions derived from the primary blood components. How are such fractions used, and what should a Christian consider when deciding on them?

    Blood is complex. Even the plasma-which is 90 percent water-carries scores of hormones, inorganic salts, enzymes, and nutrients, including minerals and sugar. Plasma also carries such proteins as albumin, clotting factors, and antibodies to fight diseases. Technicians isolate and use many plasma proteins. For example, clotting factor Vill has been given to hemophiliacs, who bleed easily. Or if someone is exposed to certain diseases, doctors might prescribe injections of gamma globulin, extracted from the blood plasma of people who already had immunity. Other plasma proteins are used medically, but the above mentioned illustrate how a primary blood component (plasma) may be processed to obtain fractions. * (SEE FOOTNOTE BELOW)

    Just as blood plasma can be a source of various fractions, the other primary components (red cells, white cells, platelets) can be processed to isolate smaller parts. For example, white blood cells may be a source of interferons and interleukins, used to treat some viral infections and cancers. Platelets can be processed to extract a wound-healing factor. And other medicines are coming along that involve (at least initially) extracts from blood components. Such therapies are not transfusions of those primary components; they usually involve parts or fractions thereof. Should Christians accept these fractions in medical treatment? We cannot say. The Bible does not give details, so a Christian must make his own conscientious decision before God.

    Some would refuse anything derived from blood (even fractions intended to provide temporary passive immunity). That is how they understand God's command to, abstain from blood.' They reason that his law to Israel required that blood removed from a creature be 'poured out on the ground.' (Deuteronomy 12:22-24) Why is that relevant? Well, to prepare gamma globulin, blood-based clotting factors, and so on, requires that blood be collected and processed. Hence, some Christians reject such products, just as they reject transfusions of whole blood or of its four primary components. Their sincere, conscientious stand should be respected.

    Other Christians decide differently. They too refuse transfusions of whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or plasma. Yet, they might allow a physician to treat them with a fraction extracted from the primary components. Even here there may be differences. One Christian may accept a gamma globulin injection, but he may or may not agree to an injection containing something extracted from red or white cells. Overall, though, what might lead some Christians to conclude that they could accept blood fractions?

    "Questions From Readers" in The Watchtower of June 1, 1990, noted that plasma proteins (fractions) move from a pregnant woman's blood to the separate blood system of her fetus. Thus a mother passes immunoglobulins to her child, providing valuable immunity. Separately, as a fetus' red cells complete their normal life span, their oxygen-carrying portion is processed. Some of it becomes bilirubin, which crosses the placenta to the mother and is eliminated with her body wastes. Some Christians may conclude that since blood fractions can pass to another person in this natural setting, they could accept a blood fraction derived from blood plasma or cells.

    Does the fact that opinions and conscientious decisions may differ mean that the issue is inconsequential? No. It is serious. Yet, there is a basic simplicity. The above material shows that Jehovah's Witnesses refuse transfusions of both whole blood and its primary blood components. The Bible directs Christians to 'abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from fornication.' (Acts 15:29) Beyond that, when it comes to fractions of any of the primary components, each Christian, after careful and prayerful meditation, must conscientiously decide for himself.

    Many people would be willing to accept any therapy that seems to offer immediate benefit, even a therapy having known health risks, as is true of blood products. The sincere Christian endeavors to have a broader, more balanced view that involves more than just the physical aspects. Jehovah's Witnesses appreciate efforts to provide quality medical care, and they weigh the risk/ benefit ratio of any treatment. However, when it comes to products derived from blood, they carefully weigh what God says and their personal relationship with our Life-Giver. -Psalm 36:9.

    What a blessing for a Christian to have such confidence as the psalmist who wrote: "Jehovah God is a sun and a shield; favor and glory are what he gives. Jehovah himself will not hold back anything good from those walking in faultlessness. O Jehovah . . . , happy is the man that is trusting in you"!-Psalm 84:11, 12.

    FOOTNOTE: * See "Questions From Readers" in The Watchtower of June 15, 1978, and October 1, 1994. Pharmaceutical firms have developed recombinant products that are not taken from blood and that may be prescribed in place of some blood fractions used in the past.

    SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR THE DOCTOR

    If you face surgery or a treatment that might involve a blood product, ask:

    Do all the medical personnel involved know that, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I direct that no blood transfusions (whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, or blood plasma) be given to me under any circumstances?

    If any medicine to be prescribed may be made from blood plasma, red or white cells, or platelets, ask:

    Has the medicine been made from one of the four primary blood components? If so, would you explain its makeup?

    How much of this blood-derived medicine might be administered, and in what way?

    If my conscience permits me to accept this fraction, what medical risks are there?

    If my conscience moves me to decline this fraction, what other therapy might be used?

    After I have considered this matter further, when may I inform you of my decision?
    ------------------------------------------------------------

    MY COMMENTS ARE BELOW:

    I don't know 100% what the Society's Current Blood Policy is (I don't know if even the Governing Body and Elders do anymore, or if they ever did).

    However, here is what I have heard is now ALLOWED by the Society:

    Vaccinations (Shots) even if they contain Blood!

    Organ Transplants even though the Organs contain Blood! (Probably a large amount of Blood too!)

    Bone-Marrow Transplants

    Hemophiliac Blood Treatments

    All sorts of Blood Fractions

    Here is a Pharisee-Like List of the "Acceptable Blood Fractions" which Witnesses are now allowed to accept (at least this is what I have heard, not 100% sure):

    *Factor VIII
    *Gamma Globulin
    *Blood Plasma Proteins
    *Albumin
    *Immune Globulins
    *Rh Immune Globulin
    *Hemophiliac Preparations
    *Clotting Factors
    *Synthetic Hormone EPO (Erythropoietin) (contains only "a small amount of Albumin")
    *Autologous Blood (Autotransfusion) (Where your own Blood "flows out through a tube to the Artificial Organ that pumps and filters (or oxygenates) it, and then it returns to the patient's circulatory system")
    *Hemodilution
    *HemoPure (Cow's Blood)
    *PolyHeme

    Also in a 1960's Article the Watchtower Society said that Jehovah's Witness Doctors CAN GIVE Blood Transfusions to those evil "Worldly People!" (However Witnesses are not even allowed to give Blood to their PETS -- Does this seem odd? I guess the Watchtower Society is basically saying that "Worldly People" are so wicked that it doesn't matter if you give them Blood, yet your Pets are better than Worldly People)

    Here are some Comments I found about the Society's Blood Policies on a Website (can't remember which Website though):

    Who is Blood Guilty before Jehovah God? If the Society believes you should not have Blood according to the Bible, then where in the Bible does it allow certain parts of Blood? What about all of the followers of the Society that needed a Blood Fraction (which is now allowed) when they were in their "not allowed mode"? Did any of these die needlessly? Does Jehovah give "New Light Blinking Back and Forth" to the Governing Body so they can keep adjusting their stand on parts of Blood?)

    Jehovah's Witnesses are now allowed to accept ALL of the components of Blood, as long as you separate the components and then accept them!

    Is there any logic in this?

    Edited by - UnDisfellowshipped on 11 October 2002 4:52:53

  • UnDisfellowshipped
    UnDisfellowshipped
    Also, be sure to check out THE BEST BLOOD WEBSITE ANYWHERE -- http://www.ajwrb.org
  • twinkletoes
    twinkletoes

    Many, many thanks for responding so quickly and for the timely info, I am just printing it out now, ready for tonight.

    It's very much appreciated.

    Twink

  • hawkaw
    hawkaw

    And just to make sure these bozos think you are making it up get the June 24, 2002 edition of newsweek (copy shown at the below url - add http:// infront of theurl to make it work)

    hawkawl.freeservers.com/June_17_2002_Newsweek_page_81_1.jpg

    I have asked Lee Elder to post this at the AJWRB site but I don't know if he has managed to get there or not.

    Note - Lee's site also has a link to another article at http://www.ajwrb.org .

    Remember it is NOT cow's blood that is approved. What is approved now is either hemoglobin taken from either human or animal blood.

    I would recommend that you have the Hospital Liaison Committee member come to the meeting as well. He would explain the policy (as stupid as it may be) to both you and the elders.

    hawk

  • Valis
    Valis
  • ChristianObserver
    ChristianObserver

    Hello Twink :o)

    Hope I'm not too late! The following may be of interest:

  • Pousada L, Fiorito J, Smyth C. Erythropoietin and anemia of gastrointestinal bleeding in a Jehovah's Witness. Ann Intern Med 1990;112:552.
  • Brooks BJ, Hanson DS, Cryer PA, et al. Erythropoietin therapy for sickle cell anemia in Jehovah's Witnesses. South Med J 1991;84:1416-7.
  • Green D, Handley E. Erythropoietin for anemia in Jehovah's Witnesses. Ann Intern Med 1990;113:720-1.
  • Kyger ER, Blakestad BR. Synthetic erythropoietin and Jehovah's Witnesses. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1991;101:369. /ol>

    Product Information. Epogen (epoetin alfa for injection). Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, California. 1991.

    H6>Health Science Center Office of Information Technology

    • BLOOD SUBSTITUTE SAVES LIVES, REDUCES BLOOD WASTE

    An experimental blood substitute that was successfully used as an alternative to blood transfusion in a 44-year-old Jehovah's Witness may help eliminate excessive waste of unused blood in our nation's supply, a Colorado researcher suggests. The product, PolyHeme, uses hemoglobin--the molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to tissues throughout the body--from outdated human red blood cells. The cells are stripped of their protective membrane, which would normally elicit an immune response to foreign proteins, or foreign blood types. After undergoing various other modifications, the naked hemoglobin can then be transfused into any individual--regardless of his or her blood type--and even into animals, Dr. Ernest E. Moore of Denver Health Medical Center told Reuters Health. Furthermore, although PolyHeme reportedly lasts in the body for only 72 hours, it may provide a temporary fix for critically injured patients who do not have immediate access to stored blood. PolyHeme is one of at least three red blood cell substitutes, or oxygen-carrying substances, trying to obtain FDA approval for clinical use. The other products include Biopure Corporation's Hemopure, which was approved in South Africa in April 2001 for use in adult patients with acute surgery-related anemia and Hemosol Inc.'s Hemolink, which received FDA approval in March to further test its product as a potential treatment for chemotherapy-induced anemia.

    This is the product produced from human haemoglobin. The company appears to buy *out of date* human blood from transfusion services and then process it to remove haemoglobin (remember this is from blood given by donors so it has left their body, has been stored, expired and then salvaged to produce the product).

    Apparently this has been passed as *acceptable* by a Hospital Liaison Committee. The haemoglobin used will be from multiple human donors. Should Jehovah's Witness accept a treatment produced from human blood given by others?

    The New England Journal of Medicine 2002; 346: 1097-1098

    SACRAMENTO ­­ Jose Orduno lay dying. Doctors grumbled about their lack of options. And Orduno's sister, Angelica, wondered how she would tell their frail mother that he had refused lifesaving blood transfusions because of his faith.

    "You walk around with your arms tied behind your back," said Mercy San Juan Hospital trauma surgeon Leon Owens. "It's torture."

    But Orduno didn't die. After two weeks in the hospital, breathing through a tube in his throat, the 34-year-old was offered a long shot: an experimental therapy made from the blood of cattle.

    Before sunup July 21, Orduno was nearing the end of his 40-minute bike ride to McDonald's, where he worked making salads, when he was hit by a car. He remembers nothing of the accident, but learned later that he was thrown about 90 feet, and that the driver of the car that hit him fled.

    After Orduno had received two units of a donor's blood, he awoke to tell the doctors and nurses surrounding him that he didn't want any more. Although Orduno never officially has been baptized a Jehovah's Witness, he would explain later that he subscribes to the denomination's doctrine and is well-versed in its practices.

    But a company called Biopure has developed an alternative therapy for situations in which patients can't ­­ or won't ­­ accept blood transfusions. The hospital checked on whether Hemopure would be an acceptable alternative to whole blood, and it was cleared.

    After getting the drug intravenously over three or four days, Orduno's hemoglobin level shot up, reviving his body's ability to produce new oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

    Dorsey Griffith, a medical writer for the Sacramento Bee, states that Gregory Brown, a representative from the Jehovah's Witnesses Hospital Liaison Committee, approved the use of the oxygen-carrying solution that was transfused into the patient, Jose Orduo. The article notes: "When Orduo woke up from his drug-induced slumber, about a month after the ordeal began, Angelica was there. His sister told him about the accident and how he almost died, and about the drug made from cow blood that had saved his life."

    So if we call these products *blood substitutes*/*drugs*/*transfusion free medication*/*oxygen carrying solutions* - they are acceptable to Jehovah's Witnesses, regardless of the fact that they are produced from haemoglobin (in this case from cow blood) which constitutes just under 15% of blood? And shouldn't bovine blood be poured upon the ground? Wasn't this the understanding underlying the apostolic decree to *abstain from blood*?

    Erythopoientin for Jehovah's Witnesses

    Based on interpretations of biblical scriptures (Verses 28 and 29 in Acts), Jehovah's witnesses believe that humans must not sustain life with other creatures' blood, and they recognize no difference between ingesting blood and taking it into their blood vessels. 1,2

    When serious blood loss occurs from trauma, surgery, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc, physicians may be faced with the difficult problem of treating patients who are Jehovah's Witnesses while honoring their religious beliefs. Giving blood or blood products to sustain life may save the patients life, but Jehovah's Witnesses believe that it may ultimately destroy their soul.

    P> The Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center has received several questions about using erythropoietin (EPO) in Jehovah's Witnesses. EPO is an endogenous hormones produced primarily by the kidneys that stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells in response to hypoxemia. Using recombinant DNA technology, exogenous EPO is now commercially available and is routinely used to treat anemia in predialysis patients, patients with end-stage renal failure, and patients infected with HIV with anemia related to zidovudine therapy. In patients who are Jehovah's Witnesses, EPO has been proposed as an alternative to administering blood products to replace lost blood or to increase their vascular volume before elective surgery. 2-5 EPO has been useful in the Jehovah's Witnesses reported in the literature in whom it has been used instead of blood or blood products.

    P> There is an issue that has created some debate. In each vial of EPO contains a small amount (ie, 2.5 mg) of human albumin, a blood product, as a carrier protein to prevent adsorptive losses of EPO. 2,6 There is no form of EPO available in this country that does not contain this small amount of albumin. The controversy is whether this small amount of albumin makes the use of exogenous EPO unacceptable in Jehovah's Witnesses.

    P> There is no definitive answer to this question. Before treating a Jehovah's Witness with EPO, it must be considered whether it is acceptable to them. The patient or their family may wish to consult their religious leaders for guidance. The Watchtower Society's Bible Information Services has stated that the use of EPO should not objectionable in Jehovah's Witnesses who receive treatment with EPO because this synthetic hormone is a product of recent technology. There might, however, be some individual Jehovah's Witnesses who would find it unacceptable to use a solution that contains albumin. Each individual must decide if it is appropriate.

    REFERENCES

    ol> LI>Thompson HA. Blood transfusions and Jehovah's Witnesses. Tex Med 1989;85:57-9.

    And here again, we have a product which is generally acceptable to the WTBTS, yet it contains albumin. And where does the albumin come from? The human blood bank perchance...? (A blood clotting agent in use is of porcine origin!)

    The WTBTS enforces an anachronistic and life denying interpretation of *abstain from blood* - ie transfusion is against divine command, but it permits the contextually *understood* implications of *abstain from blood* - ie it does not insist on the koshering of meat and cooking it according to Jewish tradition, nor the unclean condition of menstruating and post childbirth women. There appears to be an inconsistency here .....!

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere

    I'm amazed at how eagerly JW's accept ANY Bull Shit Blood reasoning from the WTS.

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