Counter productive, outdated and discriminatory

Celebrating National Blood Donor Month, an excellent Philadelphia Daily News column highlights the shame of the continuing ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men. In addition to the points the columnist makes — that the blood is needed, tested, and that other risks go unexamined, the ban sends the harmful and delusional message of “risk groups,” outside of which the virus is presumed not to be a threat.

If policy is to proactively prevent the spread of the virus that leads to AIDS, a more constructive move would be to ban abstinence only education, a proven risk.