- Decisions concerning blood can be a matter of life and death. It is therefore very important to be well informed.
- Most find it very demanding to make conscience matter decisions about blood fractions and treatments
Position as Jehovah’s Witnesses
- All Witnesses carry usually their signed attorney of power stating they refuse transfusions of whole blood or one of its 4 main components, being red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma.
- According to The Watchtower (2004, June 15th) blood fractions may be acceptable, like hemoglobin, hormones and clotting factors
- This has the following results:
| Blood component | % of whole blood | Acceptable ? | fraction % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blood plasma | 55 % | unacceptable | |
| Water | 50 % | acceptable | 90% of plasma |
| Red blood cells | 44 % | unacceptable | |
| Hemoglobin | 15 % | acceptable | 33 % of red cells |
| Albumin | 2 % | acceptable | 4 % of plasma |
| Globulins | 1,5 % | acceptable | 3 % of plasma |
| White blood cells | 0,3 % | unacceptable | |
| Platelets | 0,1 % | unacceptable |
Remarkable facts
- A breastfed baby drinks a great deal of living white blood cells from its mother which strenghtens its immune system. White blood cells are a key component of human milk. That’s how Jehovah made it.
- It does sometimes happen that the mother’s milk contains a bit of whole blood which is sucked by the baby. When the baby coughs up, the milk appears pink or red.
- Blood transfusions become acceptable to Jehovah’s Witnesses when blood is not given as a whole, but given in separate fractions.
What does the bible say ?
- The bible says nothing about the 4 main components of blood
- The bible says nothing about fractions of blood
- What parts of blood are considered main components and what parts are considered fractions is a decision made by modern-time humans
- Bible verses show that the ban on blood is not as strict as usually thought
- This bible verse applies specifically to hunting
- Yet, it was then allowed to eat the animal and the blood still in it
- The bible gives no reason for it. One possibility is that it allowed a hunter that couldn’t find any other food a means to stay alive. This would be in line with the fact that certain laws became less important when life was in danger. (Mat 12:3-5, 11-12; Luke 6:9, 10)
Is all blood removed ?
- Even when an animal has been bled, not all blood cells are removed. It is simply impossible to scrape all veins. Thus some blood cells are eaten together with the meat.
- This applied for sure in more primitive circumstances like in bible times. Yet, Jehovah allowed eating such meat.
- Note: the red color of the juice coming out of meat, like shown in the accompanying picture, is usually not from blood leftovers but from myoglobin: a protein found in muscles. The picture is used in an illustrative way.
- Studies show that around 0.1% of the weight of meat consists of hemoglobin, even after it is bled correctly. (source: Meat Science)
