Congresswoman Lee's Statement on HHS Panel's MSM Blood Donation Vote
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Barbara Lee released this statement following the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Blood Safety Advisory Committee’s 16-2 vote to amend the blood donor deferral policy for the MSM community to stop deferrals after one year of abstinence.
“While I am pleased to see HHS’s Blood Safety Advisory Committee examine the outdated and discriminatory policy of deferring members of the MSM community from donating blood, I am ultimately disappointed with their recommendation.
This policy does not defer donors based on risk-factors, nor is it a policy with a scientific justification.
There remains a great need for blood donations. Donors should only be deferred based on actual risk factors, not outdated discriminatory policies created decades ago out of fear.
The American Medical Association passed a resolution opposing the lifetime ban on blood donation for members of the MSM community, and the American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers also support a policy change.
Our policies must be informed by the best available science and technical capacity, not fear.”
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Congresswoman Lee is a Vice Chair of the Equality Caucus, a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, and is a Senior Democratic Whip, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and former co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. She serves as chair of the Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.