Eduardo wrote that the article should have used "more recent statements and publication excerts....)
Moreover, I would add that an essay written in 2005 should accurately include the Society's more recent statements and publication excerpts which all demonstrate that the acceptance of blood fractions is clearly permissible for Witnesses as the current doctrine holds. It should furthther reference the current Advanced Medical Directive.
JCS Article Excerpt #1 (page 814) (Is not the June 15, 2004 the last big article on blood fractions, and isn't it in the JCS article?)
"In 2000, The Watchtower declared that Witnesses could accept any fractions derived from whole blood cells, noting that medical science was advancing in its ability to break down primary components into secondary ones.
The 2000 Watchtower article, however, failed to specifically mention whether hemoglobin was now allowed, thereby leaving ambiguous the question of whether Witnesses could now accept hemoglobin without reproach from Jehovah. On 24 September 2000, the Sacramento Bee reported that a member of the Jehovah’s Witness Hospital Liaison Committee approved the use of hemoglobin for Witnesses.
[2]
The 15 June 2004 Watchtower article, citing a policy dating back to 1981, also reiterated that Witnesses could individually accept fractions from whole blood cells, but failed to specifically list hemoglobin.
[3]
To date, The Watchtower still has not specifically publicized that it condones Jehovah’s Witnesses accepting hemoglobin, leaving doubt as to the status of a previous directive singling it out as unacceptable."
[1] .“Questions from Readers,”
The Watchtower (15 June 2000): 29-30, (“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 faction derived from the primary components.”) See
http://www.jwfiles.com/blood-WT6-15-00.htm . [2]
See
h
ttp://www.ajwrb.org/basics/hemopure.shtml(“According to a 24 September 2000 article in the
Sacramento Bee, a patient was recently transfused with Hemopure®, a highly purified oxygen-carrying hemoglobin solution made from fractionated bovine (cow) blood and manufactured by Biopure Corporation. Dorsey Griffith, a medical writer for the
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 Orduño. The article notes: ‘When Orduño 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.’”) [3] .“Be Guided by the Living God,”
The Watchtower (15 June 2004): 19, 21 (“Decades ago Jehovah’s Witnesses made their stand clear. For example . . . supplied an article to
The Journal of the American Medical Association . . . ‘While these verses are not stated in medical terms, Witnesses view them as ruling out transfusion of whole blood, packed RBCs [red blood cells], and plasma, as well as WBC [white blood cell] and platelet administration. . . . Witnesses’ religious understanding does not absolutely prohibit the use of [fractions] such as albumin, immune globulins, and hemophiliac. . . . Since 1981, many fractions have been isolated. . . . For the benefit of current readers, the [June 15, 2000 Watchtower] is reprinted on pp. 29-31 of this magazine. It provides details and reasoning, yet you will see that what it says agrees with the basics presented in 1981.”)
JCS Article Excerpt #2 (page 816)(Again, a whole lot about fractions, from current sources.
Today , the 15 June 2004 Watchtower admits that fractions are derived from blood, but no longer reveals the thousands of units of blood which are needed to make fractions:
By using component transfusions, physicians could spread donated blood to more patients, perhaps plasma to one injured man and red cells to another. Continued research showed that a component, such as blood plasma, could be processed to extract numerous fractions, which could be given to still more patients. [1]
The Society’s choice to not inform its readers about the large quantity of blood units needed to produce the accepted fractions or that the fractions, if added together, would total whole blood, may be an attempt to defend itself against critics who question the sincerity of the Society’s belief that it abstains from blood or only partakes in minute amounts. [2] The Red Cross urges people to donate blood to meet the Jehovah’s Witness demand, [3] and one particular Watchtower critic describes the Society’s policy as similar to that of allowing a Jehovah’s Witness to purchase an entire truck, but only part by part. [4]
[1 ] .“Be Guided by the Living God,” 21.
[2] .See http://www.ajwrb.org/links/index.shtml.
[3] .American Red Cross Campaign Slogan (“Vast quantities of blood must be donated by non Jehovah's Witnesses to provide all of the blood fractions and medicines used by Jehovah's Witnesses and their children. Please help replenish the supply - give blood.”), available online at: http://www.ajwrb.org/links/index.shtml.
[4] .Unknown Author, http://www.ajwrb.org/forbidden.shtml (“Here is an analogy: It's like saying, “see that truck over there, it's stolen and you can't buy it but if someone dismantles it, it's not a truck anymore, it's truck parts and you can buy what you want. However, the engine, the transmission, the radio and the disc brakes are special. They are the ‘primary’ components of the truck (i.e. the red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma). You can't have these ‘primary’ components unless you first completely dismantle them. If you do that you can buy them too.”)
Eduardo, did you read the article? The current blood policy is in it, alive & well. The blood fraction argument takes up about 10 pages of the article - that's about 25%! I simply could not post all 10 pages. I do not know how you can say that it does not talk about blood components or the current WTS standpoint. That is an integral part of the article. Perhaps you should reread the article. Everyone, do not let Eduardo stop you from reading this article. He, nor I, can "think" for you.
Skeeter1
