The Jehovah’s Witnesses have updated their guidance on medical treatment involving blood, giving members the freedom to decide whether their own blood can be used during procedures.

The clarification, delivered in a recent address by Governing Body member Gerrit Lösch, shifts part of the decision-making process to individual members. While the group still maintains its long-standing opposition to receiving donor blood, it now recognises that the handling of a patient’s own blood in medical settings is a personal matter.

This means members can choose whether their blood may be drawn, preserved, and reintroduced during surgeries or treatments. The leadership stressed that such decisions should be guided by personal conviction and understanding of scripture, rather than a blanket rule.

Despite the adjustment, the group reiterated that its core teaching, abstaining from another person’s blood, remains unchanged.

For years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have based their position on biblical teachings that associate blood with life, leading to a strict rejection of transfusions. This belief has often placed members in difficult situations, particularly in emergency healthcare.

In Nigeria, the conversation recently gained attention after the death of Mensah Omolola, a social media personality who declined a transfusion during her illness. Her decision, rooted in faith, sparked widespread reactions about the balance between religious beliefs and medical advice.

At the same time, advances in medicine have made it possible for patients to undergo complex procedures without donor blood, a development that has influenced ongoing discussions within the faith.

By allowing members to decide on the use of their own blood, the organisation appears to be offering more flexibility in medical choices, while still holding firmly to its central doctrine.