At first glance, it appeared on Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration scrapped a discriminatory policy that prohibited gay men from donating blood. But Democratic lawmakers had previously argued that the proposal is still based on “outdated stereotypes.”
“The recommendation to move to a one-year deferral policy is a step forward relative to current policies, however, such a policy still prevents many low-risk individuals from donating blood,” scores of legislators said in a letter sent on Dec. 15 to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. The 80 US Senate and House Democrats were calling on her to fully remove the decades-old ban that prevents men who have sex with men from donating blood.
On Tuesday, the FDA and HHS announced a partial lifting of the ban. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement that her agency “has carefully examined and considered the available scientific evidence relevant to its blood donor deferral policy for men who have sex with men,” and determined that it will “take the necessary steps to recommend a change to the blood donor deferral period.”
But instead of removing the deferral altogether, the FDA reduced it to just one year, meaning that men who have sex with men will now be able to donate blood, but only if they’ve been celibate for an entire year.
The FDA claimed it didn’t have enough scientific evidence yet to completely reverse the ban.
The aforementioned lawmakers suggested discrimination is still behind the policy.
“A one-year deferral policy, like a lifetime ban, is a categorical exclusion based solely on the sex of an individual’s sexual partner – not his actual risk of carrying a transfusion-transmittable infection,” the Democrats’ letter had stated.
“We urge you to implement a risk-based blood donation policy…rather than simply another arbitrary time-based deferral,” the lawmakers said.
They also criticized the FDA’s decision to implement a “national blood surveillance program” in conjunction with opening blood donations to celibate men who have sex with men, calling it an “arbitrary condition” that will lead to “further unnecessary delays.”
The current ban was put in place in the earlier 1980’s in response to fears over HIV/AIDS spreading. It has since attracted scorn from a number of medical groups including the American Red Cross, America’s Blood Centers, and the American Medical Association that have called the deferral unwarranted.
An organization following this issue closely, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, flat-out rejected the FDA’s announcement, calling it “offensive and harmful.”
“Requiring celibacy for a year is a de facto lifetime ban,” the group said in a statement. “By implementing this policy, the FDA will continue to fan the flames of the outdated stereotype that HIV is only a ‘gay disease.’”
The FDA’s proposal to reduce the blood donation ban to one-year will be introduced in 2015, and will include the opportunity for public comment.
