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Blood doctrine · Claim record

The same 1981/1982 text said 'techniques for intraoperative collection or hemodilution that involve blood storage are objectionable', while dialysis, non-blood-primed bypass and uninterrupted intra-operative salvage were permitted by many Witnesses.

Claim ID claim-blood-1982-storage-objectionableConcerns 22 June 1982Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 22 June 1982 Verified

The same 1981/1982 text said 'techniques for intraoperative collection or hemodilution that involve blood storage are objectionable', while dialysis, non-blood-primed bypass and uninterrupted intra-operative salvage were permitted by many Witnesses. Awake!, 22 June 1982The Watchtower, 1 March 1989

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

Awake!, “Jehovah's Witnesses—The Surgical/Ethical Challenge”

22 June 1982 · pp.25-27 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Medical and Research Departments (reprint from JAMA 27 Nov 1981, 246(21):2471-2472) · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Techniques for intraoperative collection or hemodilution that involve blood storage are objectionable to them.”

Witnesses refuse 'whole blood, packed RBCs, WBCs, or platelets'; 'many Witnesses permit the use of dialysis and heart-lung equipment (non-blood-prime) as well as intraoperative salvage where the extracorporeal circulation is uninterrupted'; albumin, immune globulins and haemophiliac preparations: 'each Witness must decide individually if he can accept these.' Par. 8 (p. 25) states that Witnesses view the biblical prohibitions 'as ruling out transfusion of whole blood, packed RBCs, and plasma, as well as WBC and platelet administration' — the earliest verified naming of all four primary components.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on WOL. The brief's 'Watchtower 15 Jun 1982 pp. 25-31' is a mis-citation: the 15 Jun 1982 Watchtower articles at those pages do not contain this material.

Corroborated by. src-hb-1990-surgical-ethical-challenge

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-g-1982-0622-surgical-ethical-challenge

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers”

1 March 1989 · pp.30-31 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“another Christian (who also would not let blood flow from him, be stored for some time, and later be put back into him) might conclude that a circuit with recovery from a surgical site and ongoing reinfusion would not violate his trained conscience.”

On intra-operative blood salvage equipment; some would refuse, others accept if the circuit is continuous.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on WOL; confirmed.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1989-0301-qfr-cell-salvage

Claim page

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