![can gay men donate blood in the us can gay men donate blood in the us](https://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Apocalypse-Marvel-Comics-X-Men-b.jpg)
13 asking it to remove the abstinence restriction.īaldwin has not received a formal response from the FDA, a spokesperson from her office said.American Medical Association President Gerald E. Twenty-two senators believe a partial solution is removing the blood donation restrictions on gay and bisexual men entirely and sent a letter to the FDA on Jan. Meanwhile, hospitals have been flooded with patients the Red Cross said it can provide only 75% of the blood requested by some hospitals. In 2015, the FDA modified the restriction to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they were abstinent for a year.With an influx of hospital patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA in 2020 changed the restriction to 3 months of abstinence.In January, the American Red Cross declared the worst blood shortage in over a decade, noting that 10% fewer people have been donating blood since the start of the pandemic. The first restriction placed a lifetime donation ban on any man who had sex with a man after 1977. Since 1985, the FDA has refused to accept blood donations from men who have sex with men, a decision born from fears during the AIDS crisis. United States senators and LGBTQ+ advocates are calling on on the FDA to remove restrictions that add obstacles for blood donations from men who have sex with men, as the American Red Cross deals with a blood shortage it called the worst in more than a decade.