WARWICK, N.Y. — The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses announced on September 18, 2026, that individual members may now decide according to personal conscience whether to accept the four primary components of blood—red cells, white cells, plasma, or platelets—from another person, or to donate blood specifically for the production of such components or fractions.
The longstanding prohibition on whole-blood transfusions remains firmly in place. The organization continues to base that refusal on the biblical command to “abstain from blood” recorded in Acts 15:20, describing it as a core religious teaching that is unchanged.
“Blood remains sacred to Jehovah’s Witnesses, who continue to regard life and blood as precious gifts from God,” said Paul Gillies, international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses at the World Headquarters in Warwick, New York. “We recognize that medical decisions involving blood components are a matter of conscience between each Witness and their God, Jehovah.”
The adjustment extends the same reasoning previously applied to blood fractions and to the use of a patient’s own blood in medical and surgical procedures. An earlier clarification earlier in 2026 had already left decisions about collecting, storing, and reinfusing one’s own blood to individual conscience, on the grounds that the Bible does not specifically address those scenarios.
The Governing Body has now applied identical logic to the four main components derived from another person’s blood.
“Congregations do not involve themselves in personal decisions that rest with the individual conscience. We will continue to respect and support the personal decisions of our fellow believers,” Gillies said. He added that Jehovah’s Witnesses “love life and want the best available medical care,” do not practice faith healing, and seek physicians willing to provide treatment consistent with patients’ values and beliefs. The organization also expressed gratitude to doctors who respect those wishes.
Jehovah’s Witnesses report a peak of more than 9.2 million active members (publishers) worldwide, organized in approximately 119,650 congregations across 241 lands and territories.
For decades the group’s blood policy has been one of its most distinctive and frequently scrutinized teachings. Previously, members were directed to refuse transfusions of whole blood as well as the four primary components, while decisions about certain fractions derived from those components were already treated as matters of personal conscience.
The September 18 announcement, communicated through Governing Body Update No. 6 and accompanying materials on jw.org, marks a further shift toward individual determination on the primary components themselves while preserving the ban on whole blood.
Medical professionals treating Jehovah’s Witness patients are advised to discuss specific preferences with each individual rather than relying solely on organizational affiliation, as acceptance of red cells, white cells, plasma, platelets, fractions, or autologous procedures now rests with the patient. Whole-blood transfusion from another person continues to be refused on religious grounds.
The announcement has been reported by news outlets in multiple countries and is expected to influence clinical discussions and advance medical directives for Witness patients worldwide.
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