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JW & Blood

Sources

Official publications, medical studies, judgments, journalism and criticism, grouped by source type.

Notes describe each source’s scope. Earlier publications may describe rules that have since changed. Editorial policy →

From the archive

Awake! ·

“Youths Who Put God First”

The 22 May 1994 Awake! reports on young Witnesses who refused blood treatment, including Adrian Yeatts, Lenae Martinez and Lisa Kosack. It praises their convictions and reports their deaths. The account of Lenae identifies red cells and platelets as proposed treatments; both are personal choices under the September 2026 policy.

In the Society’s own words

“In former times thousands of youths died for putting God first. They are still doing it, only today the drama is played out in hospitals and courtrooms, with blood transfusions the issue.”
Awake!, 22 May 1994, page 2
“I could not stop crying when I came to see that these faithful children died.”
Reader's letter, Awake!, 8 December 1994, page 30
“Dying doesn't scare me, but the thought of disregarding Jehovah's laws does.”
Letter from a 17-year-old reader in Germany, Awake!, 8 December 1994, page 30

People described in the issue

  • Adrian Yeatts — 15, Newfoundland, Canada, died 13 September 1993. The Supreme Court of Newfoundland declared him a mature minor and refused the child welfare authority's application for court-ordered transfusion. Awake! acknowledged the transfusions he refused could conceivably have extended his life, and commended the refusal.
  • Lenae Martinez — 12, California, United States, died 22 September 1993. The article reports that she refused red cells and platelets during treatment for leukaemia.
  • Lisa Kosack — 12, Canada. The article describes an initial transfusion against her wishes, a court hearing over further treatment, and her later death at home. It does not give a death date.

Verification status. The linked Watchtower Online Library articles report these cases. They are the organisation’s accounts, not independent clinical records, and do not establish what would have happened with different treatment. This entry does not infer the identity or medical history of every person pictured on the cover.

Watch Tower / jw.org

The Watch Tower Society's own statements. These define what the doctrine is at any given date; they are the primary record, not a neutral summary of it.

Peer-reviewed medical literature

Published clinical studies. Outcomes vary by procedure, era and case mix — read the cohort before reading the conclusion.

Bioethics literature

Academic bioethics, mostly on consent, autonomy and how clinicians should respond to a refusal.

Law and case reports

Judgments and legal commentary, chiefly on competent adults, minors and emergency treatment.

General reference

Encyclopaedic overviews, useful for orientation and for their own citations.

Journalism

News reporting on specific cases and policy changes.

Critical and reform sources

Published by former members, reform groups and other religious organisations that oppose the doctrine. These sources argue against the policy; factual claims should be checked against the publications they cite.