{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stanton.house.gov/2022/2/as-arizona-faces-critical-blood-shortage-stanton-calls-on-fda-to-end-anti-lgbt-donation-ban", "As Arizona Faces Critical Blood Shortage, Stanton Calls on FDA to End Anti-LGBT Donation Ban", "2022-02-15", "2022", "2022-02", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Greg Stanton", "S001211", "stanton.house.gov", "stanton", "https://stanton.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Amid a critical blood shortage in Arizona and across the nation, Rep. Greg Stanton today called on the federal government to end an unnecessary and discriminatory policy that prevents gay and bisexual men from donating blood.\n\nThe American Red Cross in January declared its first-ever national blood crisis amid the surge of the Omicron variant and said that dangerously low blood supply levels have forced some hospitals to defer patients from major surgery and forced doctors to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions. Vitalant, Arizona\u2019s largest community non-profit blood provider, announced a blood shortage days before the American Red Cross.\n\n\u201cNo one doubts the serious need for blood donations, yet an entire group of Americans is excluded from answering the call for help,\u201d Stanton wrote. \u201cThis cannot be justified with science.\u201d\n\nFollowing calls from Stanton and other leaders, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2020 relaxed the deferral period for gay and bisexual men from one year to three months. Stanton said at the time it was \u201ca step forward, but frankly isn\u2019t enough.\u201d\n\nLGBTQ+ community leaders echoed Stanton\u2019s renewed call for federal officials to do away with the deferral period.\n\n\u201cThe gay blood ban is not only outdated, but also discriminatory and shame-inducing to a population that just wants to help in a time of deep need in our country. We currently have the knowledge, and already use the appropriate technology, to test each and every blood donation for HIV\u2013which is not just a gay disease,\u201d Jimmy Thomason, the executive director at Aunt Rita\u2019s Foundation, said. The foundation works to end HIV in Arizona.\n\n\u201cThis ban is based on stigma, not science. Arizona is facing a critical blood shortage\u2014a crisis that can be eased by modernizing the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s discriminatory policy that bans men who have sex with men from donating blood,\u201d Bridget Sharpe, the Human Rights Campaign\u2019s Arizona director said.\n\nStanton\u2019s letter is available HERE.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:57:46Z"]], "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/2022/2/as-arizona-faces-critical-blood-shortage-stanton-calls-on-fda-to-end-anti-lgbt-donation-ban"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9761699475347996, "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"}