Blood Transfusions Are Forbidden by God
JWs teach that accepting a blood transfusion violates God's command to 'abstain from blood' (). Witnesses carry 'No Blood' cards and will refuse life-saving transfusions for themselves and their children. The Watchtower has allowed some blood fractions while banning whole blood, red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma — distinctions with no biblical basis. This policy has resulted in preventable deaths, including children, and the Watchtower has celebrated these deaths as acts of faithfulness.
The command to 'abstain from blood' in appears alongside 'abstain from things strangled' — both refer to dietary practices, not medical procedures. Intravenous transfusion is not eating. forbids eating blood because 'the life of every creature is its blood' — the principle is respect for life. A transfusion preserves life; refusing one destroys it. The Watchtower's own shifting policy proves this is organisational, not biblical: they banned organ transplants (1967), then allowed them (1980); they banned blood fractions, then allowed some. A divine command does not oscillate.