Source: BBC

By: Olivia Ireland

Jehovah's Witnesses has updated its policy on blood transfusions to allow members to have their own blood removed, stored, and "given back" in medical procedures.

While  the change will enable members to have transfusions of their own blood -  in planned surgeries, for example - they continue to be prohibited from  receiving the blood of others.

Gerrit Losch, part of the group's leadership, announced the move saying "each  Christian must decide for himself how his blood will be used in medical  and surgical care".

Jehovah's  Witnesses is a Christian-based religious movement, probably best known  for its door-to-door evangelism. It claims 144,000 active members in the  UK, and nine million worldwide.

The  group has historically ruled that members cannot accept blood  transfusions, as - according to the groups website - both the Old and  New Testaments "command us to abstain from blood".

"Our core belief regarding the sanctity of blood remains unchanged," a spokesperson for the group said.

Some former members have criticised the move, saying it "doesn't go far enough".

Mitch  Melin told the Associated Press: "If one of Jehovah's Witnesses faces a  medical emergency with significant blood loss, or if a child requires multiple transfusions to treat certain types of cancers, this policy change does not grant them complete freedom of conscience to accept potentially life-saving interventions involving donated blood".