Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree welcomed news today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will recommend an end to a decades-old ban on blood donation by gay and bisexual men. Pingree had asked the Obama Administration repeatedly, as recently as this month, to repeal the ban.

"This was a policy that should have been scrapped decades ago," Pingree said. "It's an insult to gay and bisexual men, it has no public health value and has unnecessarily kept millions of potential blood donors from giving much-needed blood."

The FDA said today that it will recommend an end to the lifetime ban on gay men donating blood, but will recommend replacing it with a one-year ban after homosexual activity.

In a letter to a top Obama Administration official earlier this month, Pingree and Congressional colleagues argued for a risk-based assessment of blood donors, and not reject donors based solely on a sexual orientation label.

"A one-year deferral policy is a step forward," Pingree and her colleagues wrote. "However, such a policy still prevents many low-risk individuals from donating blood. If we are serious about protecting and enhancing our nation's blood supply, we must embrace science and reject outdated stereotypes. As such, we urge you to implement a risk-based donation policy for men who have sex with men, rather than simply another arbitrary time-based deferral."