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Great, so instead of making the blood supply safer they want to make it less safe in the name of "equality."
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Chicago resolution on ban on gays and bi-sexuals donating blood
"U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), who’s leading the charge for the policy change in Congress, said it makes no sense to allow promiscuous heterosexuals to donate blood, no questions asked, while banning gay men for life."
"Referring to heterosexuals,Quigley said, “We treat those folks as low-risk, even if they have a new partner every single day. And that makes the blood supply unsafe and it’s contradictory and unfair.”"
Committee OKs reversing ban on gays donating blood :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall (http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2795832,health-committee-reverse-ban-blood-donation-101210.article - broken link)
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While I agree that it is not good policy to allow "promiscuous heterosexuals" to donate blood, how does it help the situation to now allow the highest risk group for AIDS (gay and bi men) to donate blood?
In my opinion gay and bi men as well as "promiscuous heterosexuals" should be banned from giving blood.
Your thoughts?
Watch out people, Quigley is trying to get Congress to pass a nationwide law.
Great, so instead of making the blood supply safer they want to make it less safe in the name of "equality."
==============================================
Chicago resolution on ban on gays and bi-sexuals donating blood
"U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), who’s leading the charge for the policy change in Congress, said it makes no sense to allow promiscuous heterosexuals to donate blood, no questions asked, while banning gay men for life."
"Referring to heterosexuals,Quigley said, “We treat those folks as low-risk, even if they have a new partner every single day. And that makes the blood supply unsafe and it’s contradictory and unfair.”"
Committee OKs reversing ban on gays donating blood :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: City Hall (http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2795832,health-committee-reverse-ban-blood-donation-101210.article - broken link)
============================================
While I agree that it is not good policy to allow "promiscuous heterosexuals" to donate blood, how does it help the situation to now allow the highest risk group for AIDS (gay and bi men) to donate blood?
In my opinion gay and bi men as well as "promiscuous heterosexuals" should be banned from giving blood.
Your thoughts?
Watch out people, Quigley is trying to get Congress to pass a nationwide law.
OH MY GOD!!!!
If gay blood gets into our bodies--WE WILL ALL BECOME GAY!!!!!!!!!!
But seriously, why not take blood from donors... and yanno, test it? If the blood is clean from diseases who cares WHO donates it? Just because someone is gay doesn't mean they are promiscuous REGARDLESS of any statistic some Jesus freak makes up.
If someone donates blood and it has HIV, then you dispose of the blood.
If someone donates blood and it's perfectly clean, then you thank them for their kindness.
Anyone can lie about their sexual history, so the ban on gay blood is stupid. In fact, it's evidence that they're not testing the blood supply completely. If they were, they wouldn't have a need to ban anybody.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flguy1192
Unfortunately, everything's got to change for the poor gays now, who only make up 1-5% of the country's population.
Discrimination based on fear, hatred, or irrational thinking is never justified, even if it's discrimination of a small minority. We're all connected, whether you want to recognize it or not.
Since all blood product SHOULD be screened for HIV, Hep C and any of the other transmittable diseases the blanket banning of individuals for any reason seems a bit silly, unless this is a way to by pass screening ALL blood products.
OH MY GOD!!!!
If gay blood gets into our bodies--WE WILL ALL BECOME GAY!!!!!!!!!!
But seriously, why not take blood from donors... and yanno, test it? If the blood is clean from diseases who cares WHO donates it? Just because someone is gay doesn't mean they are promiscuous REGARDLESS of any statistic some Jesus freak makes up.
If someone donates blood and it has HIV, then you dispose of the blood.
If someone donates blood and it's perfectly clean, then you thank them for their kindness.
what do you do with the blood that tests negative but turns out to be positive later due to the existence of a window of 3 months or more between initial infection and detectability?
oh, that's right. you've already pumped it into multiple recipients so it's too late.
so sorry.
Since all blood product SHOULD be screened for HIV, Hep C and any of the other transmittable diseases the blanket banning of individuals for any reason seems a bit silly, unless this is a way to by pass screening ALL blood products.
Yet, due to Madcow disease (remember that?) people who have visited/lived in certain countries in a certain timeframe are ALSO ineligible to donate blood. Do we see those people protesting?
what do you do with the blood that tests negative but turns out to be positive later due to the existence of a window of 3 months or more between initial infection and detectability?
oh, that's right. you've already pumped it into multiple recipients so it's too late.
so sorry.
That's not how blood banks test blood for HIV. You're thinking of an Elisa test, which is a cheap test that most people take at a clinic. It only tests for HIV antibodies.
Gay men represent the highest risk for HIV and overall represent a low volume of potential donors.
It makes sense to eliminate them from a safety and efficiency standpoint.
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