Beliefs—Medical Treatment
Medical Care
Jehovah's Witnesses actively seek medical care when needed, and many work in the health-care field. They accept the vast majority of treatments available today.—Luke 5:31.
Abortion
Life begins at conception. Deliberately induced abortion is viewed as the willful taking of human life.—Exodus 21:22, 23.
Blood Transfusion
Christians are commanded to "abstain from . . . blood." Since the Bible makes no clear statement about the use of minor blood fractions or the immediate reinfusion of a patient's own blood during surgery, a medical process known as blood salvaging, the use of such treatments is a matter of personal choice. Jehovah's Witnesses accept reliable nonblood medical alternatives, which are increasingly recognized in the medical field.—Acts 15:19, 20, 28, 29; compare Genesis 9:3, 4; Leviticus 17:10-14.
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Additional information about blood
Faith Healing
Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in faith healing as commonly practiced today. Jesus and his apostles performed miraculous healings, but the Bible makes it clear that these were first-century phenomena and not an ongoing feature of Christianity.—1 Corinthians 12:30; 13:8.
Organ Transplant
Agreeing to an organ transplant or organ donation is a personal decision.
Prolongation of Life
The Bible does not require that extraordinary, complicated, or distressing measures be taken to sustain a person if this would merely prolong the dying process. Any advance directives by the patient should be respected.
Vaccines
Jehovah's Witnesses have no objection to vaccines in general. Some vaccines contain minor blood fractions, and use of these is a matter of personal choice.
Copyright © 2003 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.
