Jehovah’s Witnesses have announced a major modification to their blood doctrine, allowing members to make personal decisions about receiving blood components.
The Governing Body said individual members may now decide for themselves whether to accept or donate the four primary components of blood: red cells, white cells, plasma and platelets obtained from another person’s blood.
The policy was announced by Governing Body member Geoffrey W. Jackson. He said after prayerful consideration, the leadership recognized that scripture stays silent on the use of these components, so it should be left to individual conscience.
The group stressed that the change does not extend to whole-blood transfusion, which remains prohibited under its religious teaching based on the biblical command to “abstain from blood” in Acts 15:20.
This is the second major shift this year. In March 2026, the organization allowed members to decide whether their own blood may be removed, stored, and later returned during medical procedures, a practice known as autologous donation that had been banned for 65 years.
The new update now extends that same principle to components from another donor. It also allows members to decide whether to donate blood components or fractions derived from their own blood for use by others.
According to medical experts, the change is significant because most transfusions in hospitals today are not whole blood but specific components. Red cells are commonly used for anemia, plasma for trauma, white cells for infections and platelets for cancer treatment.
