Jehovah’s Witnesses Refusal to Accept Blood Transfusions.
The firm belief by the Jehovah's witnesses to entirely refuse to acknowledge blood transfusion; despite the seriousness of a particular situation including an emergency case, is because they are taught according to their teachings that transfusion of blood is sacred standpoint that is not up to negotiation and that if anyone has value and esteem that their life is a God-given gift they shall in no way accept blood transfusion in order to maintain their lives (Hoffman, 2016).
The Jehovah's witnesses stand with their Bible teachings which claim that blood incorporation, blood transfusions as well as blood donations and storing of their blood for transfusion at a later date, may it arise, is forbidden. This entire belief of the Jehovah’s witnesses is derived from a scripture that is different from other Christian values; thus reason as to why Jehovah's Witnesses are well known across the globe.
Jehovah’s witnesses further explain that the reason as to why they would instead not accept blood transfusions is because it is their way of showing great respect to God. This is elaborated by the fact that they are allowed to eat meat regardless of the fact that it may contain some blood. The Jehovah's witnesses, therefore, claim that the problem is not with the blood itself. Nonetheless, it is the respect and value they give to God that brought up there making this decision.
Organ Transplant and Judaism
At one moment opposed, Jewish practice and law on organ donation have altered dramatically, which some perceive as the beauty of Judaism as a living and evolving religion. Because organ transplantation is a very successful approach to save a life, the donation of organs has been perceived a compulsory act, a mitzvah chiyuvit, by every significant branch of Judaism.
All the same, it is worth mentioning that some Orthodox leaders differ on the manner in which time of the death of a donor, and prefer a point later than the death of the brain. Death of the brain which results in some organs being deemed unusable but even in such an instance the kidneys, barring the disease of the kidney, remain transplantable after the demise of the donor. For that reason, not to bequeath at least a number of an individual's organs has become a sin of the mitzvah of pikuakh nefesh, i.e. saving a life.
Pikuakh nefesh which is ‘saving a life' in the English language, is a fundamental value of the Jews, and at any given time 40,000 individuals appear on the waiting list of The United network for the sharing of organs. As such, there is a question of whether to conduct a body organ while alive is a mitzvah (Messina, 2015). The answer is that as long as it beneficial and will not bring risk to an individual’s donor’s life, the removal of organs surgically and their subsequent donations such as kidneys or lungs through an alive donor is a mitzvah kiyumit, a mitzvah that should be deemed as praise-worthy but never in any way an obligatory mitzvah, because with all surgery there exists some great fear and some risk.
In summary three verses from the Old Testament Torah (the first five books of the Bible) frame the idea of organ donation: “Thou shalt not stand by the blood of your neighbor” [Leviticus 19:16], ‘Thou shalt surely heal” [Exodus 21: 19] and “You shall restore” (an object that is lost, which is inclusive of someone’s health )[Exodus 23: 4]. The part of Judaism that refuses organ donation is against a live person donating an organ such as a kidney to another while they are both alive and is based on Leviticus 19:16. As such, there is no problem if the donor is dead.
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