Posted on 09/27/2014 8:34:55 PM PDT by Phillyred
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Lifting a ban on blood donations from gay men would increase the amount of available blood by hundreds of thousands of pints (liters) each year and save more than a million lives a year, a California study showed.
The U.S. Federal Drug Administration has banned gay men from donating blood since 1983, when it was discovered that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was being transmitted through transfusions.
Eliminating the ban could bring in roughly 615,300 pints (291,145 liters) of blood annually, while allowing donations from gay men who had not had a sexual partner in a year could yield 317,000 pints (150,000 liters), the study estimated.
With a five-year policy, nearly 300,000 pints (142,000 liters) could be collected, according to the study by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"The American Red Cross suggests that each blood donation has the potential to be used in life-saving procedures on three individuals," said study co-author Ayako Miyashita. "Our estimates suggest that lifting the blood donation ban ... could be used to help save the lives of more than 1.8 million people."
The American Medical Association, the American Red Cross and AABB, formerly the American Association of Blood Banks, said in a statement this summer that the lifetime ban on blood donations for men who have had sex with other men should be modified.
HIV has targeted a disproportionate number of gay men since the 1970s, with 72 percent of new HIV infections in 2010 affecting gay and bisexual male youth.
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
No, thanks.
Crazy @ss bastards...they are as sick as ISIS scum to spread their filth into society.
They misspelled “slaughter” as “save”. Plenty of potential donors outside that less-than-two-percent.
When this goes into effect I’ll simply stop giving blood altogether.
What next from these morons, blood donations from those infected with Ebola?!
I never realized a million Americans a year were dying from lack of blood transfusions ...
sarc
I had 2 good friends growing up who were hemophiliacs and were killed by AIDS infested blood.
Sounds like bullshit to me. We’re talking max 3% of the population here, and all of a sudden “Lifting a ban on blood donations from gay men would increase the amount of available blood by hundreds of thousands of pints (liters) each year and save more than a million lives a year..........”
So what are they going to do? Keep them in a cage to keep them from virus, and infections natural to that lifestyle, and extract blood daily? Don’t they, and other Leftist sorts have a thing about caged animals? I don’t get it.
If they’re going to be idiots and allow this, then blood donations from gay men should only be allowed for use on other gay men.
From: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3183227/posts
“The researchers said HIV diagnosis continues to increase among men who have sex with other men - especially young men age 13 to 24. HIV increased 132.5 percent among younger men.”
You can still give blood, but you had better declare that you will not accept blood.
This is a complete lie.
And what they don’t tell you is how many will be put at risk.
Sounds like a set-up for Obama to allow it just before leaving office, to me.
Last paragraph says it all.
HIV is discriminating against gay men almost exclusively. This is 2014..doesn’t HIV know it’s wrong to discriminate based on sexual preference..
Oh for Pete’s sake. Feel good stupidity of the highest order.
If this gets the ok...what’s to stop a private group from starting their own blood bank...or is this covered under Affirmative action?
RIP Tom Fogerty.
“a California study showed.”
The current equivalent of “we took a squat and crapped out some numbers”
Read the story of Kimberly Bergalis.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.