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Jehovah's Witnesses' literature teaches that their refusal of transfusions of whole blood or its four primary components—red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma—is a non-negotiable religious stand and that those who respect life as a gift from God do not try to sustain life by taking in blood, [5] [6] even in an emergency. [7]
The Supreme Court of Canada has made several important decisions concerning Jehovah's Witnesses.These include laws that affected the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1950s and more recent cases dealing with whether Witness parents had the right to decide what medical treatment was in the best interest of their children based on their faith.
Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that the Bible prohibits the consumption, storage and transfusion of blood, based on their understanding of scriptures such as Leviticus 17:10, 11: "I will certainly set my face against the one who is eating the blood" and Acts 15:29: "abstain from … blood." This standpoint is applied even in emergencies.
Some Jehovah's Witnesses may accept prohibited blood products if medical confidentiality is upheld, [288] although Jehovah's Witnesses who work in a hospital may break such confidentiality. [289] Jehovah's Witness patients are generally open to non-blood alternative treatments, even if they are less effective.
Raymond Franz (1922–2010), writer of Crisis of Conscience, former member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and critic of the institution. Jehovah's Witnesses have been criticized by adherents of mainstream Christianity, members of the medical community, former Jehovah's Witnesses, and commentators with regard to their beliefs and practices.
Some Jehovah's Witnesses will choose to die rather than accept blood transfusions. The faith of Jehovah's Witnesses forbids blood transfusion. Courts in the United States have consistently upheld the right of competent adults to decline blood transfusion even when it would be life-saving, though there have been exceptions where the death of a ...
Jehovah's Witnesses have challenged child neglect laws that obligate the parent to provide medical assistance to their children. [6] Some religions have requirements on how adherents may dress or groom. Many governments require companies and organizations to provide exceptions for religious apparel that would typically violate a dress code. In ...
Though Jehovah's Witnesses view "Abstinence from blood" to have health benefits, their basis for the belief is a spiritual rather than medical in nature. Their stand on blood has historically been to reject whole blood transfusions or any of the four major components of blood, ( red blood cells , white blood cells , plasma and platelets ).