XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: obama-queers@chicago.suntimes.com   
      
   What's worse?   
      
   A cold, sniffles and fever for 2-3 weeks - then you get better,   
   or a permanent viral infection that will slowly kill you for the   
   rest of your life?   
      
   No gay blood in the blood supply ever.   
      
   The Trump administration rejected a congressional request   
   Wednesday to immediately lift a ban on blood donations from gay   
   and bisexual men amid supply shortages caused by the coronavirus   
   outbreak.   
      
   A Food and Drug Administration official, who spoke on condition   
   of anonymity, told the Daily News that the FDA is aware of “a   
   dramatic reduction in blood and plasma donations," as the nation   
   reels from the COVID-19 pandemic.   
      
   Still, the official said the FDA won’t rush to lift the decades-   
   old restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.   
      
   “But we are actively considering the situation as the outbreak   
   progresses,” the official added.   
      
   New York Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Carolyn Maloney   
   earlier in the day sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Stephen   
   Hahn, urging him to revise the “antiquated policy” and charging   
   that it prevents upward of 4.5 million people from donating as   
   much as 615,000 pints of blood every year.   
      
   “This antiquated policy is not based on current science ... and   
   undermines crucial efforts to increase the nation’s blood supply   
   as the United States grapples with the coronavirus crisis," the   
   lawmakers wrote.   
      
   Spokespeople for Ocasio-Cortez and Maloney did not immediately   
   return requests for comment after the FDA official’s rejection.   
      
   New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman, the only openly gay member of   
   his legislative body, sent a letter to Hahn on March 24 making a   
   similar request and calling the FDA restrictions “outdated,   
   discriminatory, and — in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis —   
   detrimental to public health.”   
      
   A spokesman for Hoylman confirmed late Wednesday that his office   
   had yet to receive a response.   
      
   The current FDA policy, which dates back to the HIV/AIDS   
   epidemic of the early 1980s, recommends that blood banks turn   
   away men who have been sexually active with other men in the   
   past 12 months.   
      
   Ocasio-Cortez and Maloney did not say in their letter to Hahn   
   exactly how they would like to see that policy revised, but   
   noted that Canada, France and Britain have scaled that deferral   
   period back to three months.   
      
   “We urge FDA to act swiftly in revising its policy so every   
   person who can safely donate blood in the United States has the   
   opportunity to do so,” they wrote.   
      
   More than 4,000 blood drives across the U.S. have been canceled   
   due to the COVID-19 outbreak, resulting in approximately 130,000   
   fewer donations, according to Ocasio-Cortez and Maloney.   
      
   The New York Blood Center alone recently had to cancel more than   
   600 blood drives, resulting in approximately 25,000 lost   
   potential donations.   
      
   Federal officials, including Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams,   
   have called on Americans to donate blood if they can, as the   
   nation’s hospitals overflow with coronavirus patients.   
      
   As of Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. had some 200,000 confirmed   
   coronavirus cases — more than any other country.   
      
   There is no such thing as "clean" gay blood.   
      
   https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/health/plasma-coronavirus-   
   donation-fda-men-glaad/index.html   
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)