Despite pressure from gay rights groups to lift the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stood firm, citing the agency’s charge to safeguard American health.
The FDA said it will consider lifting the ban, “only if supported by scientific data showing that a change in the policy would not present a significant and preventable risk to blood recipients.â€
Today’s U.S. blood supply is remarkably safe, but that wasn’t always the case. Thousands contracted AIDS in the 1980s from blood tainted with HIV, a death sentence at the time. As a result, the FDA began its lifetime ban on gay and bisexual blood donations: Any male who has had sex with another male since 1977 is excluded....
Rev. Colin Mercer | 11/19/2012
