The Massachusetts Medical Society
wishes to be recorded in strong support of HB
3597, An Act relative to eliminating discrimination in blood donations. This
bill would require blood donation facilities not to discriminate against
prospective donors on the basis of sex, gender, or sexual orientation, while
allowing those facilities to require proof of a negative HIV test prior to
accepting donated blood.
At present, FDA regulations recommend
that men who have sex with men be deferred from donating blood for 12 months (https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/bloodbloodproducts/questionsaboutblood/ucm108186.htm). If passed, this bill would help to
alleviate the current shortage of donated blood in Massachusetts, by removing
the barrier that currently prevents men who have sex with men from donating
blood.
The MMS has a long history of
advocating to remove discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. MMS
policy “strongly supports the rights of individuals to health, happiness, and liberty regardless of
sexual orientation…and urges all governments to recognize these rights.”
Accordingly, MMS policy favors lifting the FDA deferral of blood donation for
men who have sex with men: “The MMS supports a federal policy change to ensure
blood donation bans or deferrals are applied to donors according to their
individual level of risk and are not based on sexual orientation alone.”
Accordingly, we recognize
the importance of testing donated blood for HIV/AIDs, and we commend this
legislation for stipulating that blood donation facilities may require
individuals to provide negative HIV test results prior to donating to ensure
the safety of our Commonwealth’s blood supply.
We wish to note that, while our policy
refers specifically to enacting policy change on a federal level to address
this issue, making this change at the state level is consistent with the MMS’s
anti-discriminatory stance. Massachusetts has a chance to be a leader on this
important shift in policy, and we as a medical society stand proudly with
Representative Cullinane at the forefront of this change.
Furthermore, this bill would not only
combat discrimination based on sexual orientation; it would also save lives by increasing
the supply of donor blood. The Commonwealth currently faces a shortage of
donated blood: the American Red Cross issued an emergency call for blood and
platelet donations this year. This bill would add to the pool of potential
donors in Massachusetts.
The MMS urges the Committee on Public
Health to report H.3597 out of Committee favorably.
