Saturday, September 03, 2005
the ethics of saving lives
As humanitarian organizations prepare for the hurricane aftermath, there have been calls for people to donate more than just money to the American Red Cross: donate blood.
Of course, the Red Cross doesn't let just anyone donate. Among other reasons, you cannot donate blood to the Red Cross blood bank if you:
Never mind the fact that all blood is screened for pathogens, including HIV and other STI's, before it enters circulation. These rules are arbitrary and are pretty glib; they don't make a distinction between safe sexual behavior and high-risk sexual behavior, which has far more to do with whether or not the blood is safe for transfusion. This stigmatizes gay men absolutely unnecessarily and limits the pool of potential donors. Many queer guys would gladly pitch in to relief efforts by donating much-needed blood if they weren't prevented from doing so by an arcane bureaucratic regulation.
Of course, the only way that the Red Cross knows these guys like the weenie is if the prospective donors say so. There's a questionnaire that donors fill out before they're taken to the donation room. The MSM question is on there, in yes or no form.
I suggest that gay men who know they are STI-free simply answer no to that question. Let me be clear: men who have had sex with men and have contracted a sexually-transmitted infection or who are HIV positive or who do not know their HIV/STI status should still not donate. But those men who have had sex with men and know they are "clean" should not have any reservations about telling a little white lie about their sex lives if it means they could help save some lives.
The American Red Cross could easily revise their ridiculous guidelines so we could avoid this relatively minor ethical conundrum. Of course, they refused to do so after 9/11, so there's little hope they'd do the smart and right thing now.
So do what you need to do to help hurricane victims who need blood. Find a blood donation center here.
Of course, the Red Cross doesn't let just anyone donate. Among other reasons, you cannot donate blood to the Red Cross blood bank if you:
// snip//are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977 have ever taken money, drugs or other payment for sex since 1977 have had sexual contact in the past 12 months with anyone described above
// snip //
Never mind the fact that all blood is screened for pathogens, including HIV and other STI's, before it enters circulation. These rules are arbitrary and are pretty glib; they don't make a distinction between safe sexual behavior and high-risk sexual behavior, which has far more to do with whether or not the blood is safe for transfusion. This stigmatizes gay men absolutely unnecessarily and limits the pool of potential donors. Many queer guys would gladly pitch in to relief efforts by donating much-needed blood if they weren't prevented from doing so by an arcane bureaucratic regulation.
Of course, the only way that the Red Cross knows these guys like the weenie is if the prospective donors say so. There's a questionnaire that donors fill out before they're taken to the donation room. The MSM question is on there, in yes or no form.
I suggest that gay men who know they are STI-free simply answer no to that question. Let me be clear: men who have had sex with men and have contracted a sexually-transmitted infection or who are HIV positive or who do not know their HIV/STI status should still not donate. But those men who have had sex with men and know they are "clean" should not have any reservations about telling a little white lie about their sex lives if it means they could help save some lives.
The American Red Cross could easily revise their ridiculous guidelines so we could avoid this relatively minor ethical conundrum. Of course, they refused to do so after 9/11, so there's little hope they'd do the smart and right thing now.
So do what you need to do to help hurricane victims who need blood. Find a blood donation center here.
