Seymour Flops
Diamond Member
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The Food and Drug Administration is considering easing restrictions on blood donations by men who have sex with men. The move is aimed at addressing criticism that the current policy is discriminatory while also helping to alleviate a nationwide blood shortage. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is covering the story.
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So what are the current restrictions on men who have sex with men giving blood, and why were they put in place?
STEIN: These restrictions date back to the early days of the AIDS epidemic and were designed to protect the blood supply from the AIDS virus. Originally, gay and bisexual men were completely prohibited from donating blood out of fears they would contaminate the blood supply with HIV. But over the years, as testing improved and the understanding of the epidemic has evolved, these restrictions have gradually been eased. In 2015, the FDA lifted the total ban on blood donations by gay and bisexual men and instead said they could donate as long as they hadn't had sexual contact with other men for at least a year. When the pandemic caused a blood shortage in 2020, the FDA shortened that to three months. But all this has long been criticized as unnecessary, counterproductive and discriminatory, and now the agency says it's reassessing the current policy.
Well, that is wonderful news. We should not risk some dyed blue haired LBGT-Q+ person being offended just to prevent a transfusion patient being infected with a deadly and incurable disease. [/sarcasm]
I found this story when I looked for another bit of NPR craziness that I heard on the radio. NPR never disappoints when you look for bizarre stories of the Democrats thought process.
What will the new guidelines be, you ask?
STEIN: You know, NPR has learned that the new policy under consideration would allow anyone to donate regardless of their gender and sexual identity as long as they haven't engaged in risky sexual behavior in the past three months. That would include having had anal sex or new or multiple partners, injecting drugs or having engaged in sex work. This would bring the U.S. blood donation policy more in line with policies in other countries like, you know, Canada.
Yes to this! The more like Canada we can be the better. But this still seems too restrictive. Why should someone be turned away from blood donations, just because they had anal sex with multiple partners while injecting drugs they bought with their sex work money eighty-nine days ago? How is it less risky in two more days? Just let everybody donate, for Pete's sake! That's equity, isn't it? [/sarcasm]
