Even as a teenager back in the '70s when the policy was uber strict (aka no blood at all), I could not reconcile with myself that a symbol of life was more important than life itself.
One should do everything possible within their power to save a life, including the provision of blood.
I liked the way Ray Franz put it in an interview that Terry recently posted. Dying for want of a blood transfusion is the same as being willing to divorce your wife in order to prevent the loss of your wedding ring.
Their policy was also in contradiction to the belief held that if given the chance, anyone could be a Jehovah's Witness. Not true for hemophiliacs and others requiring whole blood products to survive.
Hemophiliacs could've been JWs, they'd just die the first time they got a paper cut. But they'd surely go straight to paradise!