Posted on 06/10/2010 9:12:41 AM PDT by OldDeckHand
Groups urge government to lift lifetime restriction
Should gay men be allowed to donate blood? A government health committee is re-examining that question today.
A regulation created at the height of the 1980s' AIDS epidemic banned men who have had sex with another man since 1977 from ever giving blood.
Advocacy groups, blood-collection organizations and some members of Congress are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to revise the lifetime ban, which has been reviewed twice in the past 10 years, but left unchanged.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Political correctness is killing us.
Everything you said is true; but, I predict that political correctness will rule the day and we will see gay guys giving blood again. I also predict that you will see a rise in people storing their own blood before elective surgeries.
Hmm. Could be time to store some of my own blood...
The fact that lesbians are allowed to donate blood, proves that the ban on gay male blood is not homophobic.
Like the ban on gay donors banning folks who participate in anal sex would also have to rely on the honor system. So they could lie too if they wanted.
I can also lie if I wanted to give blood and am not supposed to. I lived in Europe during the Mad Cow scare and am also on the list of not being able to donate blood. I'm fine with that and surely don't feel discriminated against. And I certainly don't need convincing.
The problem is the attitude of the gay community that considers not being able to donate blood as a discrimination issue rather than common sense due to their sexual behavior.
I am at 103 donations, and I don’t do anal sex, so we have at least one donnor left.
The blood supply IS safe as long as we keep in place screening criteria as we now have. What makes you think the level of safety will remain static once prohibitions to unacceptably risky behavior are lifted?
Fair enough.
Why in the 21st century are we not using synthetic blood replacements?
Bravo for your generosity!
I'm O+ and would love to donate, but with my history of malaria, dengue fever & hepatitis, they won't take mine.
This is a no-brainer. Perhaps that's why our small-c congress has such a hard time with it.
I was set to donate a few weeks ago, the morning of the donation I broke out in a rash from my new detergent.....they would not draw blood from me due to the rash on my arms.
Label the blood, “MSM donated”.
Problem solved.
The Red Cross trying to turn a few more bucks. How many people have AIDS because of the political correctness of the Red Cross.
LLS
I’ve decided against those prostate drugs, because they are on the deferral list and I’d loose a couple years. I think I’ll go for at least 120.
The variable is the same. If the point is homosexuals giving blood, they are going to whether or not there is a “law”. Noone knows but that person what behavior they have engaged in. Its up to the blood banks to ensure blood is clean NO MATTER the donor.
I just wouldn’t want to lay in the hospital worrying about who gave it. ALL blood should be 100% prior to giving it no matter the donor or their behavior. Straight people do sick shit too.
“Yes, um... I’ll have the kosher blood, please.”
They’ve been told to lie about their behavior to be able to donate blood. Not only do they want to kill themselves slowly they want the same for others.
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