The administration announces support to end ban gay blood donors

Posted by LGBT Weekly

In an effort to promote LGBT equality and to address the shortage of blood donors in the U.S., Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has launched an initiative to overturn legislation which currently prevents gay men from giving blood.

Sen. Kerry is working closely with a colleague in the House of Representatives to prove that the ban, which was established in 1983 to prevent the spread of HIV, is not only discriminatory toward the gay community, but also simply no longer necessary.

According to the Boston Business Journal, Sen. Kerry has released a list of four steps that must be taken before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can certify that gay men can donate blood without compromising the nation’s blood supply. If the ban is to be lifted, HHS must first verify that gay men can donate blood without the risk of spreading transmissible diseases.

HSS must also identify the root cause of errors that result in the accidental release of blood not cleared for use and determine if alternative screening strategies are necessary to assure the safety of blood collection.

Sen. Kerry expressed his excitement that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “responded with concrete steps to finally remove this policy from the books.” Kerry stated, “HHS is doing their due diligence and we plan to stay focused on the end game – a safe blood supply and an end to this discriminatory ban.”

Although the establishment of such guidelines shows progress toward lifting the ban, it is unclear how much time the HHS will need to conduct the research necessary to fulfill these measures.

Update:

The Obama administration has announced support for Senator Kerry’s combined efforts with the HHS to end what the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) Director of Public Policy Nathan Schaefer describes as an “antiquated” policy.

Schaefer explained that the GMHC looks forward to working with the HHS and the Obama administration to revise the policy to reflect current HIV detection methods.