IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 290 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that blood donation 
policies in the United States should be equitable and based on science. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 1, 2021 
Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. LEE 
of California, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, 
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. TORRES of New York) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
blood donation policies in the United States should be 
equitable and based on science. 
Whereas, in 1983, the Food and Drug Administration 
(FDA), an agency of the Department of Health and 
Human Services (HHS), prohibited the donation of blood 
by any man who has had sex with another man (MSM) 
at any time since 1977; 
Whereas, in December 2015, based on recommendations from 
the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safe-
ty and Availability, the FDA promulgated revised regula-
tions to allow an MSM to donate blood only if he has not 
been sexually active for the past 12 months; 
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•HRES 290 IH 
Whereas, on April 2, 2020, the FDA issued guidance for im-
mediate implementation to address the urgent and imme-
diate need for blood and blood components; 
Whereas the FDA has changed the recommended deferral pe-
riod for MSM donors from 12 months to 3 months; 
Whereas a 3-month deferral policy for gay and bisexual men 
to donate blood remains overly stringent given the sci-
entific evidence, advanced testing methods, and the safety 
and quality control measures in place within the different 
FDA-qualified blood donating centers; 
Whereas despite the modifications made in 2020, a double 
standard remains, as the revised policy continues to treat 
gay and bisexual men differently from others; 
Whereas gay and bisexual men of color experience inter-
secting, compounded discrimination in health care set-
tings across the United States; 
Whereas the Williams Institute of the University of California 
at Los Angeles School of Law estimates that, based on 
the population of eligible and likely donors among the 
MSM community, lifting the Federal lifetime deferral pol-
icy on blood donation by an MSM could result in as 
many as 4,200,000 newly eligible male donors, of which 
360,600 would likely donate and generate 615,300 addi-
tional pints of blood; 
Whereas the increased uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis 
(PrEP), which reduces the likelihood that an HIV-nega-
tive individual will acquire HIV, has allowed many more 
gay and bisexual men to be aware of their HIV-negative 
status and take steps to effectively eliminate their per-
sonal risk of HIV transmission; 
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•HRES 290 IH 
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has resulted in the can-
cellation of thousands of blood drives across the United 
States, reduced the rate of blood donations, and posed 
long-term threats to the Nation’s blood supply; 
Whereas the American Medical Association has stated that 
the ethical ideal for public policy in this area should be 
to transition away from policy that defers categories of 
persons based on attributing to all members risks associ-
ated with a population and toward policy that defers indi-
vidual donors on grounds of evidence-based risk assess-
ment; and 
Whereas the FDA is in the process of again reevaluating and 
considering updating its blood donor deferral policies as 
new scientific information becomes available, including 
the feasibility of moving from the existing identity-based 
deferrals related to group risk behaviors to alternate de-
ferral options, such as the use of individual risk assess-
ments: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that policies governing blood and blood prod-
uct donation in the United States should— 
(1) be grounded in science; 
(2) minimize deferral periods; 
(3) be based on individual risk factors; 
(4) not unfairly single out any group of individ-
uals; and 
(5) allow donations by all those who can safely 
do so. 
Æ 
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