Via 365gay: FDA rethinks gay blood ban

By Shamecca Harris, 365gay.com
05.29.2010 10:00am EDT

The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability is set to hold a hearing June 10 and 11 to reconsider a FDA rule which bans gay from donating blood, CNN reported.

The rule, implemented in 1983, prevents men who have had sex with another man since 1977 from donating blood. Established during the onset of the HIV/AIDS crisis, it was intended to be a preventive measure from spreading the virus and other transfusion-transmitted diseases.

Today, with new and more effective means for HIV/AIDS testing , many argue that the ban is “medically and scientifically unwarranted.”

Activists, including the Human Rights Campaign, the American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers and AABB are opposed to the lifetime ban of gay donors. “Potential donors should be screened more fairly regardless of sexual orientation” they said in a joint statement.

Politians have also weighed in on the debate. Senator John Kerry and 17 other senators signed a letter challenging the “outdated policy.”

“Gay men, including those who are in monogoamous relationships, are forbidden from contributing blood for the rest of their lives, while ‘a heterosexual who has had sex with a prostitute need only wait a year [before giving blood]. That does not strike me as a sound scientific conclusion,’” Kerry wrote.

Even so, the Food and Drug Administration stands by their policy. The policy “is based on scientific data that s how that certain medical, behavioral and geographical factors are associated with increases risk of transfusion transmitted diseases,” they told CNN. Still, the agency says it is “considering the possibility of pursing alternative strategies that maintain blood safety.”