Jehovah’s Witnesses allow blood-derived products but keep ban on whole-blood transfusions

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The Jehovah’s Witnesses have partly eased their longstanding prohibition on the medical use of donated blood, allowing members to receive products derived from blood but maintaining a ban on transfusions of whole blood.

The policy, announced Friday, is the second revision this year in what has long been one of the most controversial and distinctive teachings of the religious organization.

The new policy says that individuals can receive products derived from blood donated by other people. It says they can receive medical treatments that involve the use of the four main components of whole blood: plasma, platelets and red and white blood cells.

“Each Christian must make his own personal decision about the use of these four primary components in all medical and surgical care,” said Geoffrey W. Jackson, a member of the Governing Body of the organization, based in New York State.

The new announcement also allows members to decide as a matter of individual conscience whether to donate blood to be used for blood products for the medical treatment of others.

But the organization continues to…