NW Church fights gay donor ban with blood drive

Oregon Faith News Note:

King-5 news in Seattle reports that theFirst Christian Church in Olympia, Wash., held a blood drive on September 6 to draw attention to the FDA’s ban on blood donations from homosexual men. The policy has been in place since 1983 in an effort to keep the nation’s blood supply free from pathogens like HIV. Matthew Shrader, who is gay, believes that his blood is perfectly safe, and he organized a blood drive on his own behalf to spread that message. Twenty-five people came to give blood. The FDA, said Shrader, is wrongly focused on orientation rather than behavior. In any case, said others present to give blood, every blood sample is screened for HIV anyway. So why are some people excluded up front?

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