The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers”
“Hence, we do not donate blood, nor do we store for transfusion our blood that should be ‘poured out.’ That practice conflicts with God’s law.”
The question asked was: ‘In the light of Bible commands about the proper use of blood, how do Jehovah’s Witnesses view medical procedures using one’s own blood?’ The article said that depositing one’s own blood weeks before surgery ‘directly contradicts’ Leviticus and Deuteronomy, while procedures in which the patient’s blood stays in a continuous circuit (haemodilution, cell salvage, heart-lung machines, dialysis) were left for each Christian to decide.
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Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, Questions From Readers
Confidence note. Opened on the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026; question and quotations confirmed word for word.
Corroborated by. src-ap-2026-0320-own-blood
Notes. This is the categorical wording that the 20 March 2026 update replaced.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-2000-1015-qfr-own-blood