by Crazyguy 18 Replies latest watchtower medical
Crazyguy - "it used to take a few years or at least several months before the contradiction came out. But now one can see the contradictions in their writing within sometimes that exact same article."
Par for the course with a religion that, when asked on their website "do you shun former members" or "will only JWs be saved", they basically reply, "no (but actually yes)".
Yet my research seems to indicate that no blood of the mother passes through the placenta barrier to the fetus, so who is correct or are they both wrong??
In line with what Marvin said above, some blood components cross because of an active transport mechanism (i.e. They were meant to) and others cross in very small amounts simply because no containment system is perfect.
The problem with the JW appeal to the maternal/fetal relationship in support of their position is that albumin is one of those components that only crosses incicentally.
So it's perfectly fair for AJWRB to highlight this inconsistency by pointing pretty out that much all blood components cross incidentally.
The fraction thing is so convoluted. My husband can't even think about it because he gets too confused. ( yeah, to me that is the very REASON to think about it, to him it is a reason not to ) sigh....
"All the craziness of the blood doctrine!"
Ahhhhh.....that is because of all the craziness, lunacy and wackiness of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society!
Here is one thing about thier fractions thats crazy, they say no red blood which make up about 45% of all blood volume, yet Hemoglobin is allowed and out of the blood red cells Hemoglobin makes up 96% of it.
Our resident blood experts Marvin and TD hit it on the head again.
Movement can be incidental to the whole messy business of making another human being......or it can be for a specific purpose.
The issue them becomes the WT reasoning point. Byt their own reasoning, if something happens during the "natural process" that we can see could be done artificially, because God would not violate his own law, then the christian could reason their conscience would allow it.
Following this logic, a Christian should also be able to make the same decision regarding whole blood or forbidden components.
#inconsistant
Crazyguy states:
"Here is one thing about thier fractions thats crazy, they say no red blood which make up about 45% of all blood volume, yet Hemoglobin is allowed and out of the blood red cells Hemoglobin makes up 96% of it."
Here is what dumbass me came up with after doing a little research online regarding red blood cells and Hemoglobin:
'Red cells, or erythrocytes 
, are relatively large microscopic cells without nuclei. In this latter trait, they are similar to the primitive prokaryotic cells of bacteria. Red cells normally make up 40-50% of the total blood volume. They transport oxygen from the lungs to all of the living tissues of the body and carry away carbon dioxide. The red cells are produced continuously in our bone marrow from stem cells at a rate of about 2-3 million cells per second. Hemoglobin is the gas transporting protein molecule that makes up 95% of a red cell. Each red cell has about 270,000,000 iron-rich hemoglobin molecules. People who are anemic generally have a deficiency in red cells, and subsequently feel fatigued due to a shortage of oxygen. The red color of blood is primarily due to oxygenated red cells......'
Summary:
So if I am suffering from an ongoing condition of constant fatigue, it is possible that I have a deficiency in red blood cells and or that my hemoglobin count is very low. If I am given the fraction of red blood cells called Hemoglobin, which Watctower says is okay, I am being given 95% of what red blood cells are made of. Yet Watchtower says a transfusion of red blood cells is wrong and a sin.
The 'craziness' of WT's blood doctrine is an understatement!!!
I was very close with the elder on our body that traveled to Bethel and oversaw the Bloodless group in our state.
He told me point blank that the elder running the program for the PLANET knew it was BS and I quote "he desperately told me he wants out of the business"
They KNOW people........
For those who have spent some time studying the Watchtower Society’s (WTS) position on the use of blood, one of the most troubling aspects is their allowance of all the various components of plasma . Thus Witnesses may elect to accept the various Immunoglobulins, blood serums, blood clotting factors, albumin and so forth. They may not, however take all of them at the same time.
How does the WTS justify such a position? Especially since they were once so opposed to the use of blood fractions as this quote amply demonstrates:
“Whether whole or fractional, one’s own or someone else’s, transfused or injected, it is wrong.” – The Watchtower 09/15/1961 p. 559
In the following quotation taken from the Watchtower of June 1, 1990, pages 30 & 31, you will note how they justify the use of blood fractions:
“It is significant that the blood system of a pregnant woman is separate from that of the fetus in her womb; their blood types are often different. The mother does not pass her blood into the fetus. Formed elements (cells) from the mother’s blood do not cross the placental barrier into the fetus’ blood, nor does the plasma as such. In fact, if by some injury the mother’s and the fetus’ blood mingle, health problems can later develop (Rh or ABO incompatibility). However, some substances from the plasma cross into the fetus’ circulation. Do plasma proteins, such as immune globulin and albumin? Yes, some do.
A pregnant woman has an active mechanism by which some immune globulin moves from the mother’s blood to the fetus’. Because this natural movement of antibodies into the fetus occurs in all pregnancies, babies are born with a degree of normal protective immunity to certain infections.
It is similar with albumin, which doctors may prescribe as a treatment for shock or certain other conditions. Researchers have proved that albumin from the plasma is also transported, though less efficiently, across the placenta from a mother into her fetus.
That some protein fractions from the plasma do move naturally into the blood system of another individual (the fetus) may be another consideration when a Christian is deciding whether he will accept immune globulin, albumin, or similar injections of plasma fractions. One person may feel that he in good conscience can; another may conclude that he cannot. Each must resolve the matter personally before God.”
Photo: Lennart Nilsson
The line of reasoning here used by the Society is quite apparent. The “natural movement”of these various allowed components across the placental barrier is viewed as a basis for the Christian in accepting these blood components.
Elders and Hospital Liaison Committee member’s will often make statements to the effect that the “natural movement” of these blood components is evidence that God allows the use of these blood products since it would be unimaginable for God to break his own laws on blood.
The members of the Associated Jehovah’s Witnesses for Reform on Blood agree. It would be “unimaginable” for God to break his own laws. If various components of blood actually pass through the placental barrier, either from the mother to the fetus or vice versa, than it would seem entirely reasonable that God would have no objection to our using these blood components in this way.
It is interesting to note that the medical literature contains a great deal of information on this subject. Some of it is available on the Internet, some is not. In either case, we will provide complete references so that you can research this material for yourself.
We begin by noting the presence of fetal blood within the mother’s circulatory system is an established fact demonstrated by numerous medical studies. Is this a new discovery of which the Society is not aware? That is hardly imaginable. Fetal cells were first recovered from maternal blood as reported by Walknowska et al in 1969. 1 Additionally, as early as 1961 the Society acknowledged this fact:
While there is no direct flow of blood between the mother and the fetus, yet by osmosis there is some transfer of blood between the mother and the baby through the placenta. – Blood, Medicine and the Law of God, 1961, p. 25
P.C.R. technology has facilitated additional research in this field of study, primarily for the purpose of screening for birth defects or prenatal diagnosis. This technology allows us a clear look at what is happening with respects to exchanges of blood components between the mother and the fetus. This technology and the resulting knowledge became available prior to the 6/90 WT article quoted above.
A 1993 article in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” references two studies involving P.C.R. technology reported on in 1989 and 1990, and goes on to say:
“Thus fetal DNA sequences indeed exist in maternal blood. Among the various candidate cells, the most promising appear to be fetal nucleated red blood cells. We isolated nucleated red blood cells on the basis of flow-sorting for the transferring receptor and glycophorin-A” 2(italics ours)
Here we find evidence that red blood cells do indeed pass from the fetus to the mother. The significance of this finding for the Watchtower blood doctrine can hardly be overstated. Using the reasoning and logic employed by the WTS itself, what further evidence does one need to conclude that God would not object to transfusion of red cells?
The following study comes from the Baylor College of Medicine. Please note:
“Fetal cells unequivocally exist in and can be isolated from maternal blood. Erythroblasts, trophoblasts, granulocytes and lymphocytes have all been isolated by various density gradient and flow sorting techniques.” 3 (italics ours)
Erythroblasts are immature red blood cells, and lymphocytes are white blood cells. Both are forbidden blood components by the Watchtower Society, despite the fact that they clearly are among those components that have a “natural movement” across the placental barrier.
As an interesting side point, this study notes that fetal cells can persist in the mothers blood stream for extended periods of time. In one case fetal cells were still present twenty-seven years after child-birth. How appropriate then that we think of a blood transfusion as a cellular organ transplant which becomes part of the body.
As reported in “Early Human Development,” fetal nucleated cells in maternal blood has been demonstrated by many groups. Fetal cells are detected in the mother’s circulation as early as four weeks and five days after conception, and are present during all three trimesters of pregnancy; gradually increasing as gestation progresses. Also of great significance is that the majority of cord blood samples reveal the mother’s cell’s are also present in fetal circulation. So we have a dual exchange of blood components more than 50% of the time.4
Conclusion
How can the WTS continue to ignore the facts, and insist on adherence to a policy that routinely results in avoidable death? Here we have seen how the scientific facts clearly disprove the basis upon which the Society allows some blood fractions while not allowing others. Some of the questions that remain unanswered are:
1. Did the WTS know the facts all along and make a conscious choice to misrepresent the truth?
2. Did the WTS negligently fail to do careful research when establishing a policy that millions would rely upon in choosing their medical care?
3. Will the WTS exhibit the moral courage to set matters straight? (In 2000 – likely in response to pressure from AJWRB – the WTS modified its blood policy to allow all blood fractions. Yet they still continue to prohibit red cells which as we have seen above are able to pass the placental barrier.)
4. How many more lives will slip away in the meantime?
Note: Those considering independent legal actions against the WTS will want to take note of the potential for the WTS being held liable for negligently providing inaccurate medical advice.
