"This decision is outrageous, irresponsible and archaic. We expect more out of this advisory committee and this administration than to uphold an unnecessarily discriminatory policy from another era.
'We've said it before: The most critical issue is to ensure that the blood supply is safe and abundant, and this means maximizing the potential donor pool and making sure all donors are screened appropriately and assessed based on actual behavioral risk independent of their sexual orientation. The committee's decision today not only leaves a discriminatory practice in place, it also puts lives at risk."
-- National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey after Friday's vote by the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability against recommending the Food and Drug Administration lift its lifetime ban on blood donations from any man who has had sex with another man since 1977.
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