BREAKING: Jehovah’s Witnesses have announced a major change to their longstanding position on blood, allowing individual members to decide according to personal conscience whether to accept or donate four main blood components.
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses announced the adjustment on September 18, 2026, from its world headquarters in Warwick, New York.
Under the new position, individual Witnesses may personally decide whether to accept red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or platelets from another person’s blood during medical treatment. They may also decide whether to donate blood specifically for the purpose of providing these components or blood fractions to another person.
However, the organisation stressed that its longstanding position against whole-blood transfusions remains unchanged. Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to base that position on their interpretation of the biblical command to “abstain from blood,” including Acts 15:20.
Paul Gillies, an international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses, said the organisation continues to regard blood and life as sacred, while medical decisions involving the four main components are now considered matters of individual conscience.
The organisation also said congregations will not interfere in members' personal decisions regarding these medical treatments and will respect and support individual choices. It further emphasized that Jehovah’s Witnesses accept medical treatment and do not practice faith healing.
The announcement represents a significant adjustment from the organisation's previous position, under which Witnesses were taught not to accept transfusions of red cells, white cells, plasma or platelets. The change extends the principle of personal conscience that had previously applied to blood fractions and certain procedures involving a person's own blood.
According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, the organisation has more than nine million members worldwide across more than 200 countries and territories.
The new policy takes effect as members are now being given greater personal responsibility for medical decisions involving these four major blood components.