by Lee Elder, Executive Director - AJWRB | Jul 5, 2026 | Institutional Policy & Watchtower Reform, JW Crisis Management, Medico-Legal Liability & Informed Consent, Pediatric Bioethics & Minor Rights
Introduction The refusal of blood transfusions by Jehovah’s Witnesses is widely recognized within medical ethics as an expression of religious conscience and patient autonomy. However, when clinicians are evaluating Jehovah’s Witness informed consent, the...
by Lee Elder, Executive Director - AJWRB | Jul 3, 2026 | Historical Policy Evolution, Institutional Policy & Watchtower Reform, Medico-Legal Liability & Informed Consent, Pediatric Bioethics & Minor Rights
Golden Age March 30, 1930 p.409 Between 1921 and 1952, the Watch Tower Society taught that vaccination was inconsistent with biblical principles and strongly discouraged its members from receiving vaccines. During this same period, the organization introduced its...
by Lee Elder, Executive Director - AJWRB | Jul 1, 2026 | Historical Policy Evolution, Medico-Legal Liability & Informed Consent
The Jehovah’s Witness Advance Medical Directive—commonly referred to by adherents as the “blood card”—has undergone significant structural and theological changes over the past several decades. Originally a simple pocket card, it evolved into the...
by Lee Elder, Executive Director - AJWRB | Mar 22, 2026 | Bioethics & Medical Ethics, Historical Policy Evolution, Institutional Policy & Watchtower Reform, Medico-Legal Liability & Informed Consent
On March 20, 2026, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses announced a significant revision to its long-standing medical guidance concerning blood. In Governing Body Update #2 (2026), delivered by Gerrit Lösch, the organization reclassified preoperative...
by AJWRB Staff | Feb 25, 2026 | Medico-Legal Liability & Informed Consent, Patient Narratives & Case Studies
Help us document and remember the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses who have passed away due to refusing or delaying medically necessary blood transfusions. Share their story and honor their legacy. Submit a Story The “Watchtower Blood Map” tracks documented...
by S. Sparrow | Sep 1, 2017 | Hematology & Biomedical Science, Medico-Legal Liability & Informed Consent
Article contributed by S. Sparrow The January 2000 issue of the Awake! magazine, published by the Watchtower Society Bible and Tract Society of New York and distributed worldwide, featured articles endorsing bloodless surgery and promoting bloodless medicine as a safe...
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