Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to die for a blood ban that their elders might one day declare to be unnecessary

Many will have been saddened at the news this week of the death of twenty-two year old Emma Gough, a Jehovah’s Witness who bled to death after refusing a blood transfusion.

Mrs Gough began haemorrhaging soon after she gave birth to twins, but she had signed a form before the birth instructing medical staff not to give her blood in the case of an emergency. Her family — also devout JWs — had refused to over-rule her decision.
A spokesman for the Kingdom Hall in Telford, Shropshire, where the Goughs worship, denied Mrs Gough was being selfish by putting her own beliefs before the needs of her children, adding: “Children are always a priority. We respect life. We seek the best medical attention we can get but the requirement we have is that we do so without receiving blood. It is very sad and there is a lot of support for the family.”

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have, of course, modified their approach to blood transfusions on several occasions in the past. The latest pronouncement on the topic from the Watchtower authorities said that anyone using blood products, even in life-saving surgery, would be “disfellowshipped” – or expelled from the Church. This usually means being shunned by friends and family.

However, if “true repentance” is shown, they can be readmitted to the Church. This change was introduced to take some of the heat out of the bad publicity that followed the hundreds of deaths of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world because of the blood ban. The authorities are reluctant to lift the ban completely — even though there are suspicions that they would like to — because they fear being sued by families who have lost loved ones to the policy which, in the end, would have turned out, after all, not to be the fixed and eternal word of God, but the demands of mere, deluded mortals.

See also:
Jehovah’s Witness who regretted saying no
She was right to refuse, say Jehovah’s Witnesses
Tragedy of a religion that lets people die