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Legislators Respond to HHS Letter on Revising Discriminatory Blood Donation Policy

September 20, 2013

Current policy places a lifetime donor ban on gay and bisexual men.

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL), U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) released the following statement in response to a letter from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the department's ongoing efforts to reevaluate blood donation criteria for men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM are currently deferred from donating blood for life based on their orientation alone, and not their level of risk.

"While we appreciate the letter from HHS and the department's initial steps to reexamine the ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) donating blood, we remain deeply disappointed by the slow pace of progress to change this discriminatory policy. We also feel the letter from HHS lacks a clear and detailed plan to make blood donation policies fairer and more effective, in line with sound science. It's long past time for HHS to end its lifetime ban, and we will continue urging the department to move swiftly to implement a policy change that allows all healthy individuals, including MSM, to donate life-saving blood.

An online version of the letter from HHS can be found here. The letter sent to HHS from the bicameral, bipartisan group of 86 members of the U.S. Congress can be found here.

The current lifetime ban on MSM donating blood was put in place during the rise of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, but is no longer scientifically justified with current blood screening technology. In 2010, the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood & Tissue Safety & Availability (ACBTSA) found the ban to be suboptimal and asked for reevaluation of this policy.

The blood banking community, including the American Red Cross and America's Blood Centers, has long-supported a change in policy. Earlier this year, the American Medical Association (AMA) passed a resolution opposing the current lifetime ban, based on its discriminatory and non-scientific basis. Instead, the AMA supports donation deferral policies that are based on an individual's level of risk.

HHS has been working to conduct the studies needed to support changes in the current MSM deferral criteria but the progress has been slow. The medical, blood bank, and equal rights communities' support for changing this policy along with ongoing Congressional pressure, should provide an even greater impetus for HHS to move swiftly with its research and revision of the policy. To encourage HHS to promptly end this outdated policy, the bipartisan letter sent in August requested HHS provide further information on the agency's current and future plans to address the ban and signals strong Congressional support for moving forward with securing the nation's blood supply in a scientifically sound manner. The legislators remain committed to seeing this policy changed and are continuing to work with the Department.