Why can't Jehovah's witnesses have blood transfusions, even if it means saving their life?

My mom's life was saved both by a blood transfusion and a severe snowstorm in 1965. She was and still is a jw. She was hospitalized for a couple of weeks due to problems with varicose veins when she was 7 months pregnant. If she had been home when she started hemorhaging she would not have made it. If there had not been a major blizzard that closed the state her jw friends would have been at the hospital and her own doctor would have been attending her.

But her friends and her doctor weren't there and a doctor who lived near the hospital performed an emergency C-section. My dad, who never became a jw called his high school friend, who just happened to be a judge and got a court order for the blood transfusion.

Mom lived and so did my brother. Neither of them got any physical diseases but Mom never forgave Dad.

Edit:
I noticed that someone said God would save the person if He wanted them saved. God really wanted my mom to be saved so He sent a major blizzard.

Do to their ignorance of study, they believe that they are committing a gross sin by having a blood transfusion. Therefore, they would rather die than have one. Funny thing is that the same book in the bible that says to sustain from blood also says not to eat pork or shellfish. They sure do love their ribs and lobster!

Let me ask you this. Just because a doctor says you will die without a transfusion, is it true? Can he guarantee you will live if you have one? Time and time again it has been proven by the Witnesses that most of the time blood transfusions are unnecessary. It was less than three hundred years ago that doctors said they must take blood out of a sick person in order for them to get well. This was standard practice. Yet many died as a result of losing too much blood. Modern medicine has come a long way in developing substitutes for blood. Thanks to the Witnesses. There are many more people who have died as a result of getting a blood transfusion than have died by not getting one. Before you condemn us for not taking blood, you should do some research of your own. My husband, who was not a Witness, accepted blood because the doctors said it would make him feel better and give him more energy. He had 15 pints of blood within about a month to 6 week period. Everytime he had a transfusion he was sick for a week. And everytime the doctors just kept recommending he have another transfusion. He eventually died. He bled to death. Even though he had all that blood. The medical society is not too quick to get rid of blood transfusions. They do not have to be as careful when performing surgery. Also, the blood banks get the blood for nothing. They sell it to the hospitals and the hospitals charge the patients insurance company three to four times the amount that they paid for it. But more and more doctors and hospitals are seeing the benefit in not giving the patient blood. They recover quicker and have no side effects or diseases that are transmitted by blood. Think about it. Most people would never dream of swapping spit with someone. Yet they do not have a problem taking their blood.

This is a very simple question to answer, which doesnt need a million quotes from Watchtower literature, or alot of explaining. Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept blood transfusion because the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses tells them not to. That is the final answer!

For years they demonized vaccinations and organ transplants in the SAME EXACT WAY. Thankfully, after years of death, Jehovah decided that these new medical advancements were acceptable now. The WT Society then changed these policies in the latest Watchtower Magazine.

These policy changes were then viewed as timely provisions from Jehovah, and then the Witnesses would say to themselves, "isnt it great to be a part of this wonderful organization!"

Misuse and eating of blood is prohibited by Jehovah God. Acts 15:28-29. Taking anything in by IV is considered "eating". IV is how the initially "feed" people until stomach tubes can be inserted surgically. So IV is considered a way of feeding someone. Blood is sacred to God because it is the life force. No immortal soul. Mistreatment of this life force is not showing proper respect for the life that Jehovah has given.

We show respect for blood by not eating it. In the Law that Jehovah gave the Israelites, he commanded: 鈥淎s for any man .聽.聽. who in hunting catches a wild beast or a fowl that may be eaten, he must in that case pour its blood out and cover it with dust. .聽.聽. I said to the sons of Israel: 鈥榊ou must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh.鈥欌€?(Leviticus 17:13,聽14) God鈥檚 command not to eat animal blood, first given to Noah some 800 years earlier, was still in force. Jehovah鈥檚 view was clear: His servants could eat animal meat but not the blood. They were to pour the blood on the ground鈥攊n effect, returning the creature鈥檚 life to God.

A similar command rests upon Christians. The apostles and other men taking the lead among Jesus鈥?followers in the first century met together to decide what commands had to be obeyed by all in the Christian congregation. They came to this conclusion: 鈥淭he holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled [leaving the blood in the meat] and from fornication.鈥?(Acts 15:28,聽29; 21:25) So we must 鈥榢eep abstaining from blood.鈥?In God鈥檚 eyes, our doing that is as important as our avoiding idolatry and sexual immorality.

Does the command to abstain from blood include blood transfusions? Yes. To illustrate: Suppose a doctor were to tell you to abstain from alcoholic beverages. Would that simply mean that you should not drink alcohol but that you could have it injected into your veins? Of course not! Likewise, abstaining from blood means not taking it into our bodies at all. So the command to abstain from blood means that we would not allow anyone to transfuse blood into our veins.

What if a Christian is badly injured or is in need of major surgery? Suppose doctors say that he must have a blood transfusion or he will die. Of course, the Christian would not want to die. In an effort to preserve God鈥檚 precious gift of life, he would accept other kinds of treatment that do not involve the misuse of blood. Hence, he would seek such medical attention if that is available and would accept a variety of alternatives to blood.

Would a Christian break God鈥檚 law just to stay alive a little longer in this system of things? Jesus said: 鈥淲hoever wants to save his soul [or, life] will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it.鈥?(Matthew 16:25) We do not want to die. But if we tried to save our present life by breaking God鈥檚 law, we would be in danger of losing everlasting life. We are wise, then, to put our trust in the rightness of God鈥檚 law, with full confidence that if we die from any cause, our Life-Giver will remember us in the resurrection and restore to us the precious gift of life.鈥擩ohn 5:28,聽29; Hebrews 11:6.

Today, faithful servants of God firmly resolve to follow his direction regarding blood. They will not eat it in any form. Nor will they accept blood for medical reasons. They are sure that the Creator of blood knows what is best for them. Do you believe that he does?

Did you know more people die today by having a transfusion than not? Doctors are only humans and one of the biggest problems is they can and do make mistakes. Not only that their is a big risk of catching HIV Virus, Aids, Hepatitis and other diseases. JW's can go in to hospitals knowing that the risk of catching these diseases is near on impossible. Also if blood was ment to be transfused why is it you have to take drugs to stop your body rejecting it? The surgeon who did my operation also admited that he wouldn't take the blood knowing the risks, but he was happy to tell others too.

I have had several major operations and refused blood and I healed faster than those who had the transfusions. The other patients were complaining as I got home 5 days earlier than most did, one Gentleman had already been in there a week and didn't think it was fair I was up and walking around the next day, and had gone home 3 days later.

Back in the mists of time before the flood men did not eat animal flesh, however after the flood God (Jehovah) told Noah and his family that he could eat the flesh of the animals but then said the following : every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. As in the case of green vegetation, Ido give it all to you. Only the flesh with its soul its blood you must not eat.

Additionally we are commanded to abstain from blood in the book of acts 15:28,29.

So the choice boils down to going against Gods commands now and living for 3 score years and 10 or obeying his commandments and have the hope of everlasting life.

Your question reminds me of a family who lived 3 doors down from us when i was in my teens. Their 8 year old girl was very ill and needed a transfusion which would have sorted her out and saved her life. The parents refused and watched her die in hospital. It stuck with me for many years. If it was my child i would definately forsake my beliefs for the life of my child, full stop. Because, what happens if all this religious stuff is a farce? That we aint' going anywhere after death just eternally dead. Existing no more. What a waste of a young life. We can't prove it though can we?

they think it is messing with what god wanted,

Thousands of JWs every year have serious and minor operations without blood, and survive. The reason there's media hype when one does die is because it is such a rare event as to be newsworthy. Thousands of people die from complications after a transfusion, and this does not make the headlines- it happens too often to be newsworthy.

Who can guarantee that it will save a life? If a doctor feels that you are that ill, can he guarantee that you won't die WITH one? There are plenty of methods of treating ANY ailment without blood. 90% of people not accepting blood transfusions are not JWs. Many doctors refuse them too. Why? They know better.

The Bible shows that we are to avoid blood. "Abstain" or "Keep away" are the exact words.

Acts 15:28,29
For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, 聽to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper. Good health to you!鈥?br>
What does "abstain" mean? Can getting blood and inserting it into your veins really be "keeping away"?

God places this in the same category as fornication.

So if, as some "Christians" claim, the abstaining here means "only through the mouth", does that apply to the fornication too?

That as long as you do not use your mouth, then fornication is ok? Wow- where can Vot get a condom?

Note the end of that verse- "Good health to you!!!"

Does that sound like if God really felt blood was good for us, and then commanded us to avoid it, would let such a statement to be added?

Because there are other ways to increase blood in the body without using someONE elses blood. Also blood transfusions can transmite a disease like Herpes, HIV. I know of someone that took a blood transfusion and die afterwards because of a disease that she got from that transfusion. SHe was living in the states.

this from wikipedia

Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses believe that the Bible prohibits eating blood, and that this includes the storage and transfusion of blood, including in cases of emergency. This doctrine was introduced in 1945, and has been elaborated upon since then. Accordingly the organization has established Hospital Information Services responsible for education on and facilitation of 鈥渂loodless surgery.鈥?This service also maintains Hospital Liaison Committees whose function is to provide support to adherents.

Although accepted by a majority of Jehovah鈥檚 Witnesses, evidence indicates a minority does not wholly endorse this doctrine. Facets of the doctrine have drawn praise and criticism from both members of the medical community and Jehovah's Witnesses alike.

See one example below

Leviticus 17:10 ]

Laws Against Eating Blood
If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.

Something i will never understand how anybody can let there relative die due to not having a blood transfusion.There should be a law to stop this stupidity

no but they can have sperm transfusions...monkey has a grip on reality

When the Bible was transcribed the only method by which blood could enter the body was to drink it, a ritual practised by pagan religions, and not recommended for health reasons, blood transfusions for medical reasons were not considered.

That leaves more blood for us to be saved with.

Strict Jehovah's Witnesses believe that they shouldn't interfere with God's work, and that He will save them if he believes they should be saved.

they believe, that life and death is in gods hands

Why do you assume it will save lives even then? The latest views in medicine is bloodless surgery is the way to go. In Texas, there is an entire hospital going 95% blood transfusion free. Even open heart surgeries have been done without transfusions. These are not JWs. There are not enough of us to cause a change like this.

Of course, the reason we oppose transfusions is the Bible forbids it. Leviticus naturally for the Mosaic Law. Christians as well. When gentile requirements for becoming Christians were being settled, it came down to a few "necessary things". [Notice! Not optional!] Acts 15:20, 29, "abstain from blood" was one of those few things.

Just like the Mosaic Law had provisions for protecting the health and safety of the Jews they could not possibly understand like germs and bacteria, so did the Christian rules of conduct.

All the diseases transmitted by blood modern medicine still has no tests for. The rejection factors that open complications after surgery. The extra time for healing caused by transfusions. All these things are avoided by refusing transfusions.

Just as the ban against fornication serves as a protection for true Christians, not taking transfusions also has protected us even when medical science did not know about all the complications arising from them. Think of how many have died because of STDs and the other lives ruined. How many would be alive today if they had obeyed that ban on fornication?

By our remaining faithful to Jehovah's requirements, we are assured He can restore us to life even after we have dissolved back to dust. So I would ask you--which would you choose? Take a transfusion that would displease Jehovah and still die from a blood complication OR refuse and even if you died from whatever be resurrected to life forever by Jehovah?

Because their ridiculous beliefs do not allow it, something to do with blood being holy and not being able to be taken from their bodies- a belief as ridiculous as jews having to do the Kosher blessing, muslims the Halal thing, neither of them eating pork, hindus not eating beef, christians not eating fish on Fridays, catholics believing they will go to hell if not baptised/confirmed etc etc etc......why don't people just wake up and smell the coffee???!!!
Be a good person, that's all you need to do- yes, we agnostics/atheist actually do understand the difference between right and wrong, without even having gone to church...can you believe it?!!

contaminated blood from a sinner