{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stanton.house.gov/2022/11/following-stanton-s-call-fda-relaxes-discriminatory-blood-donation-policy", "Following Stanton\u2019s Call, FDA Relaxes Discriminatory Blood Donation Policy", "2022-11-30", "2022", "2022-11", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Greg Stanton", "S001211", "stanton.house.gov", "stanton", "https://stanton.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "The Food and Drug Administration will relax an outdated policy preventing some gay and bisexual men from donating blood, following calls from Rep. Greg Stanton and LGBTQ+ leaders who said the policy cannot be justified with science.\n\nThe agency plans to issue new rules in the coming months allowing gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships to donate blood.\n\n\u201cThis is an important and long-overdue step, one that will increase the nation's blood supply without putting anyone at risk,\u201d Stanton said. \u201cAll blood donors should be treated equally and subject to the same protocols. I look forward to seeing continued progress on this issue because it will ultimately save lives.\u201d\n\nIn February of this year, amidst a critical national blood shortage, Stanton urged Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Beccera and FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock to fully lift the prohibition and allow all healthy Americans to donate blood. Stanton wrote, \u201cRisk and behavior assessments should be done on an individual basis to best protect patient safety, rather than by stigmatizing and shutting out an entire group of community members.\u201d [LINK]", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:24:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stanton.house.gov/2022/11/following-stanton-s-call-fda-relaxes-discriminatory-blood-donation-policy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1127230245620012, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}