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he Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance to provide recommendations to health care providers and investigators on the administration and study of investigational convalescent plasma collected from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 (COVID-19 convalescent plasma) during the public health emergency. While the treatment is still an investigational product, there were a few places where scientists or doctors could use it, including in patients with “serious or immediately life-threatening COVID-19 infections.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses have always rejected blood transfusions because they are against the doctrine of The Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the church’s legislating body, introduced the policy on refusal of blood in 1945, stating that blood transfusions defy divine precepts. Now, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been directed that they are forbidden from accepting Convalescent Plasma Therapy, a new treatment that appears to offer hope for patients stricken with coronavirus.
The new directive from Jehovah’s Witness representatives says:
“The Blood Issue: There’s talk about the FDA allowing doctors to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients with “convalescent plasma therapy.” It would be wise to advise the publishers that it’s understood that this is giving the patient the whole plasma of the person who has developed the antibodies which would be unacceptable for Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
“However if the antibodies were extracted from the plasma (fractions/immunoglobulins) and then given to the patient, it would be a conscience matter for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some doctors may view plasma as a fraction. Therefore the publisher may need to explain their personal decision not to accept any of the blood’s four main components, one of them being plasma. (Regarding the main components and fractions, see lvs pp. 246-249 \u0026 km 11/06 p. 5 Work Sheet 1)”
Jehovah’s Witnesses would let their members die rather than receive experimental treatment against coronavirus. Still, if someone from the organization accepts blood or plasma, he would become “Disassociated” and unable to have contact with his own family. According to the secret Elder’s manual Shepherd the Flock of God, “disassociation is an action taken by a baptized individual in the congregation who no longer desires to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Of course, once again, this religious organization is putting its theology above the need to preserve life.
