Jehovah's Witnesses members can now decide whether to give or receive blood

• The Jehovah's Witnesses organisation have adjusted its policy to allow members to determine whether to receive blood transfusion or donate.

• The latest policy leaves each Witness to determine matters of blood transfusion based on their conscience.

• The policy comes months after the organisation began permitting Witnesses to store their own blood for future transfusion.

The latest adjustment to the organisation's policy around blood transfusion and donation was revealed in a video broadcast by Paul Gillis, the International Spokesman. Gillis revealed that each member will have to decide whether to accept or donate blood.

The Spokesman shared that the organisation maintains its stance of abstaining from the transfusion of whole blood based on its scriptural guidance. He added that the organisation's abstention from blood has, for decades, extended to the four main components, which are plasma, platelets, white cells, and red cells. However, because the scriptures do not specifically comment on these components, decisions surrounding blood transfusion and donation will now be left to each witness to decide based on "individual conscience".

The statement added that the most important factor that should inform such decision-making is the capacity to "keep a clean conscience".

Readers might recall that in March 2026, Jehovah's Witnesses adjusted their policy to allow members to save their blood for future personal use following decades of prohibiting blood transfusions. This directive relaxed the organisation's previous guideline that outright banned the removal and transfusion of blood, giving members the power to decide whether to have their blood removed, stored, and transfused for future medical care.

In the rationale for the decision, the organisation stated that the Bible is silent on the use of one's own blood for medical and surgical care. Therefore, each member must decide how to handle matters of their own health.

The latest adjustment now takes the matter of blood transfusion even further by allowing members to elect to either accept blood transfusions from donors or serve as donors to others.

This new guideline has since gone viral on social media, where observers commented on the Church's previous stance, which they considered to be responsible for the avoidable loss of life among its members. Many referred to the 2025 case of popular personal shopper Aunty Esther, a Jehovah's Witness Member, who refused a blood transfusion to treat breast cancer.

Jehovah's Witnesses' peculiar laws and distinct lifestyle have distinguished them among Christian denominations globally. It has also led to criticisms and even outright bans in Russia, China, Singapore, and Eritrea, where the church is considered an extremist organisation