Blood – Doctrinally Well Informed?

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The Watchtower organization projects the view it wants medical providers to hold regarding the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

One of these projections is to have doctors think Jehovah’s Witnesses are well informed of the doctrinal position enforced under Watchtower teaching and policies.

Watchtower representative Paul Wade writes:

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The above was published in May of 2001. To be well informed requires clear statements and clear understanding of those statements.

As of June 2000 Watchtower doctrine has allowed Jehovah’s Witnesses to accept transfusion of “all fractions derived from any primary component of blood.”[1] As it turns out, this includes blood-based hemoglobin oxygenation agents and cryosupernatant.[2-3]

● A year later, by May of 2001, how well informed was the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses that its membership could accept transfusion of blood-based hemoglobin oxygenation agents?

● A year later, by May of 2001, how well informed was the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses that its membership could accept transfusion of cryosupernatant?

Each of the above blood products are major components of blood. Each of the above products have major potential to reduce patient morbidity and mortality.

It took Watchtower six-years to finally and clearly inform the broader community of Jehovah’s Witnesses that they were free to accept transfusion of blood-based hemoglobin oxygenation agents without potential communal shunning action taken against them. During year 2006 Watchtower made this explicitly clear on two separate occasions. [4-5]

To date Watchtower has yet to clearly inform the broader community of Jehovah’s Witnesses that they are free to accept transfusion of cryosupernatant without potential communal shunning action taken against them.

If the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses are well informed about major blood products such as those above, who is providing that information?

Marvin Shilmer
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References:

1. “I accept all fractions derived from any primary component of blood.”—(Watchtower provided Durable Power of Attorney Document for Jehovah’s Witnesses dated 2001.)

2. Life spared, faith preserved: Accident victim gets experimental therapy, by Dorsey Griffith, Sacramento Bee, Published Sept. 24, 2000.

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3. Watchtower’s Hospital Information Services Email

4. Awake, published by Watchtower, August, 2006 p. 11.

5. Our Kingdom Ministry, November, 2006 p. 5.