December 2003 Our Kingdom Ministry for the USA "Provisions to Help Us Abstain From Blood" "Baptized publishers who have previously completed an Advance Medical Directive/Release card or Identity Card with no print date or a 3/99 print date will not need to complete a new one this year. For the Service Meeting the week of December 29, the secretary should have available sufficient quantities of the cards for newly baptized publishers, their children, and those needing replacements. Congregations will not be sent a consignment of these items. If the congregations does not have enough cards on hand, the secretary may check with nearby congregations or request more cards with the congregation's next literature request." -------------------- km 1/97 p. 2 Service Meetings for January
20 min: Time to Renew the Advance Medical Directive/Release Card. Qualified elder discusses importance of filling out card completely and carrying it at all times. This document speaks for you if you are unable to speak for yourself in an emergency. (Compare Proverbs 22:3.) A new card needs to be filled out every year to give a current declaration on refusal of blood, since some doctors and others have claimed that documents older than one year may not reflect a person?s current conviction. w84 12/1 p. 25 Your Life, Your Integrity and the Card Christians realize that after an accident they might be unconscious or unable to give a detailed explanation of why they cannot accept blood transfusions. Even if an injured Witness could speak and say that?in line with the principle of informed consent?he did not want blood administered, doctors or hospital personnel might worry that a lawsuit could result if they did not follow standard treatment. So for some years Jehovah?s Witnesses have carried a Medical Alert card. This is a signed, witnessed document that relieves physicians and hospital officials of liability for any complications that might seem to result from knowing about the refusal of blood. A new card is signed and dated each year; thus, the document is always current and valid.
km 6/75 p. 3 Announcements
- New identification cards have been prepared. It is requested that these be issued to all baptized Kingdom publishers. When you issue the new identification cards, please have the publishers return the old ones. The old ones will then be destroyed by the congregations. The identification cards no longer carry a blood-transfusion declaration on the back. A separate card entitled "No Blood Transfusion" has been prepared and those who wish to carry such cards may obtain them through the congregation. These two cards can be ordered by the congregations with the regular literature orders at a rate of two for one cent.
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AMNESIAN