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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The American Red Cross says that every two seconds
3someone in the United States needs blood; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Recent natural disasters, like Hurricanes Harvey
5and Irma, and human-caused tragedies, such as the mass shooting
6in Las Vegas, highlight the importance of blood donations to
7help save lives; and
 
8    WHEREAS, While an estimated 45.4 percent of men (54
9million) in the United States are eligible to donate blood,
10only 8.7 percent of eligible men actually do; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Since 1983, the United States Food and Drug
12Administration (FDA), an agency under the United States
13Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has prohibited
14the donation of blood by any man who has had sex with another
15man (MSM) at any time since 1977; and
 
16    WHEREAS, In December 2015, based on recommendations from
17the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and
18Availability, the FDA promulgated revised regulations to allow
19an MSM to donate blood only if he had not been sexually active
20for the past 12 months; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Despite these recent steps toward a policy change,
2a double standard still exists under the policy as revised
3because it still treats gay and bisexual men differently from
4heterosexual men; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Illinois law prohibits discrimination against
6individuals on the basis of actual or perceived sex, sexual
7orientation, and gender identity; and
 
8    WHEREAS, A 12-month deferral policy for gay and bisexual
9men to donate blood is overly stringent given the scientific
10evidence, advanced testing methods, and the safety and quality
11control measure in place within the different FDA-qualified
12blood donation centers; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The American Public Health Association (APHA) has
14stated that no specific scientific rationale exists to justify
15a 12-month deferral policy; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Furthermore, the APHA's Executive Director wrote:
17"Instead of protecting and enhancing the nation's blood supply,
18a 12-month deferral represents a missed opportunity to save the
19lives of people in need of blood"; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The Williams Institute of the University of
21California at Los Angeles School of Law estimates that, based

 

 

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1on the population of eligible and likely donors among the MSM
2community, lifting the federal lifetime deferral policy on
3blood donation by an MSM would result in 4.2 million newly
4eligible male donors, of which 360,600 would likely donate,
5generating 615,300 additional pints of blood; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
7ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the President
8of the United States and the Secretary of the United States
9Department of Health and Human Services to adopt policies to
10repeal the current discriminatory donor suitability policies
11of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
12regarding blood donations by men who have had sex with another
13man and, instead, direct the FDA to develop science-based
14policies, such as criteria based on behavior and not a donor's
15sexual orientation; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17delivered to the President and Vice President of the United
18States, to the Secretary of the United States Department of
19Health and Human Services, to the Speaker of the United States
20House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the United
21States Senate, and to each United States Senator and
22Representative from Illinois in the Congress of the United
23States.