FDA Mulls Gay Blood Ban

Via the Washington Post:

The Food and Drug Administration during a two-day meeting starting today will consider lifting the ban that was put into place in 1983 amid fears — and little understanding — of the AIDS virus. An FDA advisory committee last month recommended that the agency lift the restriction, but only for men who hadn't had sex with other men for at least a year. The scientific and medical communities have increasingly rejected the ban currently in place in the United States. The American Medical Association, the nation's largest physician organization, voted last year to oppose the ban, calling it discriminatory and not based on sound science. Instead, the AMA urged federal policymakers to take a more personal approach assessing each individual's level of risk. The approach recommended by the FDA advisory committee last month falls short of that standard. And it still falls short of what a number of other countries have done to allow blood donations from gay and bisexual men.

Australia, Hungary, and Japan have all recently instituted one-year bans like the one being considered by the FDA. Among those testifying against any change today was FRC vice president and non-scientist Peter Sprigg, who is best known for declaring that sodomy should still be illegal in the United States and that American gays should be exported rather than allowing foreign gays to immigrate here.