by carla 6 Replies latest watchtower medical
Why can jw's give blood samples for testing in a medical setting? I was with someone once (non jw related) who was getting multiple tests done and they must have taken a good pint all together in separate vials. How do jw's square this with their blood policies? The blood is not poured out onto the earth but in the end much of it is disposed of (medical waste?).
I know my jw does not object to giving blood samples but will not give to save the life of another.
straining gnats--the blood is poured out and so will eventually go back to the earth. ( so argue that eventually the person will die and return to the earth )
All they know or care about is that the Governing Body say that is ok . That is all they need.
Yes, but it is stored for a time so it can be tested... but isn't that against Jehovah of the Watchtower's will? And how can using blood products derived from immorally stored blood be acceptable?
The WTS is against the transfusion of blood. Storing blood for the purpose of transfusing it into a person is what they object to (even if it is your own blood). Blood that is drawn for testing is, presumably, discarded in accordance with local laws and regulations. It is understood that this blood is not collected for transfusions.
I'm not defending their stance regarding blood transfusions, just pointing out that they have a rational reason for not linking a blood draw to them.
The JW argument against the storage of blood is a rewording of the instructions given to Israelite hunters. Wild animals don't let you walk up to them and slit their throats in the Kosher manner and methods of putting a wild creature to death from a distance (e.g. An arrow, a spear, a snare, etc.) do not adequately bleed the carcass.
Residual blood needed to be removed from the body by being poured out. The JW's have subtly reworded this obligation into the stricture, "Blood removed from the body must be poured out", which would normally preclude any and all storage of blood.
Here's an example from the 1990 brochure, How Can Blood Save Your Life?:
"Witnesses believe that blood removed from the body should be disposed of, so they do not accept autotransfusion of predeposited blood. Techniques for intraoperative collection or hemodilution that involve blood storage are objectionable to them." (Cell salvage and isovolemic hemodilution procedures have both been modified slightly to make them acceptable to JW's)
Here's an example from a 1989 Watchtower:
"We have long appreciated that such stored blood certainly is no longer part of the person. It has been completely removed from him, so it should be disposed of in line with God’s Law: “You should pour it out upon the ground as water"
The use of blood for testing purposes is rationalized via the idea that the amount of blood is small; the storage is transient and not for the purposes of consumption or transfusion anyway. (As TonusOH points out above).
Some approved treatments allow removal of blood which is treated at another location and then infused back in to the patient
