Gay Blood Donor Ban Lifted In Mexico [Report]
A ban on gay blood donors has reportedly been lifted in Mexico.
According to Blabbeando, Mexico became the first country in North America on Dec 25 to lift a ban on gay blood donors.
The new regulations will use medical criteria, and not sexual orientation, to screen blood donors. According to the LGBT Weekly, the new regulations will ask potential donors about their sexual history and not their sexual orientation. Gay man will be allowed to donate blood if they are practicing safe sex and have not tested positive for HIV or hepatitis.
Mexico’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) released a statement praising the government’s decision to lift the gay donor blood ban.
“…From now on, medical/scientific criteria will be used to identify pathogens in the blood and the focus will be turned to risky behaviors rather than social groups … In making these discriminatory distinctions, the [previous] norm explicitly violated the prohibition against discrimination present in the Constitution and the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, as well as Article 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Civil and Political Rights Treaty, among other international instruments of law, which establish that every person is equal before the law regardless of any condition.”
Britain lifted it’s ban on gay blood donors last year and the Huffington Post notes that Argentina may decide to lift their ban in 2013.
Do you think Mexico made the right decision to lift the gay donor blood ban?
