Vt. House Asks FDA To Lift Blood-Giving Ban

snyper wrote:

I know it's not going to be popular, but I object to this direction.

snyper wrote:

I know it's not going to be popular, but I object to this direction.

KittenKoder wrote:

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They are better at screening for blood born illnesses, for one thing. The other is that they are discovering that many heterosexuals are undiagnosed anyway so they have to screen all the blood now. Remember in the 80's when there was a huge spike in people getting AIDs from blood transfusions, well, gay people were banned from it back then as well. The contamination was likely because there was a huge increase in undiagnosed heterosexuals with the disease, though since most straight people won't get tested for any STD, gay people are essentially safer donors because at least they know before they even enter the clinic whether they have a blood born illness due to the testing they volunteer for regularly, just to be safe. Yeah, you technically have a higher chance of getting a serious illness from a straight person than a gay person just because gay people get tested.

snyper wrote:

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I'm also against for-pay blood/plasma banks.

KittenKoder wrote:

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They are better at screening for blood born illnesses, for one thing. The other is that they are discovering that many heterosexuals are undiagnosed anyway so they have to screen all the blood now. Remember in the 80's when there was a huge spike in people getting AIDs from blood transfusions, well, gay people were banned from it back then as well. The contamination was likely because there was a huge increase in undiagnosed heterosexuals with the disease, though since most straight people won't get tested for any STD, gay people are essentially safer donors because at least they know before they even enter the clinic whether they have a blood born illness due to the testing they volunteer for regularly, just to be safe. Yeah, you technically have a higher chance of getting a serious illness from a straight person than a gay person just because gay people get tested.

nhjeff wrote:

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I thought those were eliminated decades ago. When I was in college, I knew a few regular donors. I'm glad I never needed any blood that might have come from them.

nhjeff wrote:

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Gay or straight, newly-infected people are seldom aware. Even people who are tested regularly could not yet be aware.
How about changing the rule to say gay men can't donate until a year after their last encounter with someone whose status wasn't conclusively known to be negative? Or the individual has been celebate/monogamous for a year after an HIV test? Why does a life-time ban make any sense unless you're afraid of being infected by the gay?

nhjeff wrote:

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I thought those were eliminated decades ago. When I was in college, I knew a few regular donors. I'm glad I never needed any blood that might have come from them.

P_Smith wrote:

A straight man who engages in unprotected sex for years can donate blood.
A gay teenager who has never had sex cannot donate blood.
And idiots want to pretend that this is "equal"? That they are "protecting the blood supply"?
The bigotry is so rampant that gay people in Canada are not allowed to donate organs.
http://www.egale.ca/index.asp...
A few years ago, a gay teenage boy in Seattle (I forget his name) killed himself as a result of bullying. His parents attempted to donate his organs and were shocked to later learn they were rejected for use simply because he was gay, never mind that the boy was less than 15 years old and had never had sex.

P_Smith wrote:

A straight man who engages in unprotected sex for years can donate blood.
A gay teenager who has never had sex cannot donate blood.
And idiots want to pretend that this is "equal"? That they are "protecting the blood supply"?
The bigotry is so rampant that gay people in Canada are not allowed to donate organs.
http://www.egale.ca/index.asp...
A few years ago, a gay teenage boy in Seattle (I forget his name) killed himself as a result of bullying. His parents attempted to donate his organs and were shocked to later learn they were rejected for use simply because he was gay, never mind that the boy was less than 15 years old and had never had sex.