The Guardian, “Transfusion row rocks Jehovah's Witnesses”
“The witnesses' British headquarters at Watch Tower House in north London described the decision, which will be conveyed to members at Kingdom halls across the country by letter as “a minor procedural change”.”
Reports a Governing Body vote 'of eight to four' that members accepting transfusions 'may not be automatically expelled and shunned, so long as they repent'; spokesman Paul Gillies: 'if they are no longer living by the rules they have excluded themselves'; the church said the decision 'was clarification of existing rules and a simplification of the process of excommunication'.
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Provenance and verification note for The Guardian, Transfusion row rocks Jehovah's Witnesses
Confidence note. theguardian.com is blocked for WebFetch/WebSearch here; retrieved with curl (browser UA) and confirmed headline, byline, date (2000-06-15T00:56Z) and text. No Guardian item exists at /uk/2000/jun/14/stephenbates; the 14 June story was The Times (Ruth Gledhill).
Corroborated by. src-ap-2000-0624-deseret, src-jw-2000-0615-media-statement
Notes. The article's 'thousands' death figure is an assertion, not data.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-guardian-2000-0615-bates