Once upon a time, I used to be a superhero. My lifesaving career began sometime in high school and continued until my early 20s, when I was told I wasn’t good enough to save lives anymore. The Food and Drug Administration, at the time, had a restriction in place that didn’t allow potential donors to donate blood for 365 days following receiving a tattoo. As a regular blood donor, it was a downer to be restricted to how much I wanted to actually help others, but I could understand. After all, improper tattoo practices can lead to devastating diseases, and the last thing anybody wants is to be given tainted blood because of a faulty tattoo needle. Since then, the FDA eased restrictions on tattooed donors, allowing us to donate 24 hours after receiving a new tattoo.
However, one decades-long restriction is progressing towards being lifted slightly when the FDA announced they will lift the ban on gay donors. Set in place during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, men who have had sex with other men were given life-long bans from donating blood. At the time, it was a safety precaution to protect from AIDS and HIV at a time when the disease was still mysterious and essentially a death sentence. With advancements in both medical and scientific technology, the ban in recent years was seen as an outdated and unnecessary restriction.
The move echoes the country’s growing acceptance of homosexuality, especially in the light of same-sex marriages being close to legal across the entire nation. However, while the move is a move in the right direction, a restriction is still put in place that disallows potential male donors from donating blood if they’ve had sex with another man in the previous 12-month period.
The Williams Institute at UCLA estimates the change will amount to an additional 317,000 pints of blood annually, which amounts to roughly 951,000 potential lives saved. If you haven’t donated blood before, find a clinic or organization that does! Trust me, there’s nothing better in the world than being able to tell people you’re a superhero and actually mean it.
[via New York Times]