FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 20, 2008
Washington, D.C. – Current U.S. health regulations prohibit men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood. Studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) categorically confirm that if MSM were permitted to give blood the general population would be placed at risk.
According to the FDA, MSM, “have an HIV prevalence 60 times higher than the general population, 800 times higher than first time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than repeat blood donors (American Red Cross).
“[MSM] also have an increased risk of having other infections that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusion. For example, infection with the Hepatitis B virus is about 5-6 times more common, and Hepatitis C virus infections are about 2 times more common in [MSM] than in the general population,” according to the FDA.
A recent CDC study rocked the homosexual community in finding that although MSM comprise only 1-2 percent of the population, they account for an epidemic 64 percent of all syphilis cases.
Although the risks extend far beyond potential HIV infection, the FDA notes, “All donated blood is tested for HIV, but the virus can go undetected until the immune system has produced a testable amount of antibodies.” This would pose a “small but definite increased risk to people who receive blood transfusions if the policy were changed.”
But risking lives is apparently of little consequence to Joe Solomonese, president of the “Human Rights Campaign” (HRC), the nation's largest homosexual pressure group. Solomonese recently placed politics over science, falsely declaring this commonsense public health precaution to be “discriminatory.” He has called for the ban to be lifted with the wildly irresponsible claim that, “[T]here is no medical or scientific rationale for this discriminatory policy.”
“Joe Solomonese's demand is incredibly reckless and selfish,” said Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues with Concerned Women for America (CWA). “Unfortunately, it's a common demand among his fellow extremists.
“In South Africa, militant homosexual activists have been deliberately and surreptitiously violating that nation's blood ban, planning to flood blood services with 70,000 units. Who knows how much blood has been contaminated or how many innocent people have been infected,” said Barber, “This isn't a protest; it's an act of violence.
“In recent days, Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern has been viciously attacked and maligned, even receiving death threats, for saying that homosexual activism poses a grave threat. This represents but one example of many which illustrate her point. She can rest her case.
“Joe Solomonese has severely damaged his credibility here, and he should immediately withdraw his demand. It's unconscionable that he would place a deceptive and dangerous political agenda above the health and well-being of American men, women and children.
“Intravenous drug users are also prohibited from giving blood. No one in his right mind would demand that addicts be permitted to donate. It's not because of who they are, it's because of what they do. Studies prove that, like intravenous drug use, male-male anal sodomy is extremely high-risk behavior. Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences,” said Barber. “Regrettably, infectious disease can be just one of them.”
Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
NATALIE BELL
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