Sunday, March 7, 2010

Blood News

I see on Shakesville that a group of Senators, including my own state's John Kerry, have written a request to the FDA to rescind the ban on blood donation by men who have sex with men (MSM, in the sexual health lingo).

I've known a couple of gay men who stated that they regretted the fact that they were officially barred from donating even though the need for blood is generally steady. One said flat out that he just lied and donated anyway, the other said more or less "well, if my blood's not good enough for them, heck with 'em."

Either response seems pretty reasonable to me.

The ban has apparently been in place since 1983, so, sure, back in the day when AIDS tests were iffy and no one was completely sure how it was spread it probably seemed like a good precaution. But these days, when we know that plenty of people aside from gay men can be at risk of contracting HIV, and the means of transmission are fairly well understood, I have to say I've been waiting for them to repeal this rule ever since I've been donating.

Whether or not it will happen, we'll have to wait and see.

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