The American Red Cross and Bloodworks Northwest say there’s an unprecedented shortage of lifesaving blood in the region. Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is calling for a rule-change to make more people eligible to give blood.
Men who have sex with men and women who have sex with Men who have sex with men are not allowed to donate blood if they’re sexually active. This rule goes back to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Wyden said there needs to be a change in the rules because this policy is not based on science.
“If folks in the LGBTQ community pass all the screens, the way everyone else does, I believe they ought to be allowed to donate at a time when there’s such an urgent need for blood,” Wyden said.
Wyden said he is making that push on the federal level. There is a pilotstudy underway by the FDA that could lead to a rule change.
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