This week CNN anchor Poppy Harlow again showed excitement about the trend toward allowing gay men to donate blood, but she also took the time to lament how long it has taken for the pet liberal cause to advance.
On Monday's CNN This Morning, Harlow recounted that the Red Cross has changed its blood donation guidelines, but then channeled complaints from liberals ("a lot of people") that it is "way too late." America's embarrassing compared to "other countries."
Harlow set up the segment:
Starting today, the Red Cross has updated its guidance on who can donate blood. The new rules will allow more gay and bisexual people to donate. It comes three months after the FDA relaxed decades-old restrictions that officials said were aimed at protecting against the spread of HIV. CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is here. Such a big change, so important. A lot of people will say, "Way too late."
After fill-in co-host Victor Blackwell could be heard agreeing, "Hmm-hmm," she added: "Long time coming. Other countries have been way ahead of us."
Last December, Harlow also presided over segment about the FDA's guidelines on the issue.
CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell filled in viewers on changes to the rules, and then forwarded complaints by liberals that even the new rules are still "stigmatizing" for gay men:
And, you know, the LGBTQ+ community is still calling this "stigmatizing." So some of the exceptions are based on sexual history. There are also exceptions based on use of anti-viral drugs to prevent HIV infection because the FDA says that that could lead to false negatives in terms of screening out HIV. But, you know, GMHC, which is an HIV AIDS service organization, say that this still perpetuates stigma that we've been seeing with these guidelines for, you know, 30 years.
Harlow agreed: "Yeah."
It might seem surprising that NPR didn't make these "way too late" comments on Tuesday's Morning Edition. They brought on Washington Post reporter Fenit Nirappil to explain the trend:
NIRAPPIL: The prohibition now applies to anyone who's had a new or multiple sexual partners in the last three months and if you had anal sex. This applies to people who are gay, straight, bi, men, women, nonbinary. And it also means that you're going to see heterosexuals who are banned from giving blood for the first time.
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Transcript follows:
CNN This Morning
August 7, 2023
6:56 a.m. Eastern
POPPY HARLOW: Starting today, the Red Cross has updated its guidance on who can donate blood. The new rules will allow more gay and bisexual people to donate. It comes three months after the FDA relaxed decades-old restrictions that officials said were aimed at protecting against the spread of HIV. CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is here. Such a big change, so important. A lot of people will say, "Way too late."
VICTOR BLACKWELL: Hmm-hmm.
HARLOW: Long time coming. Other countries have been way ahead of us.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They have been. And this has been an extremely long process, but the Red Cross starting this today is extremely significant because they account for 40 percent of the U.S. blood supply. And the Red Cross itself calls this one of the most significant changes to the blood-banking history -- "one of the most significant changes in blood-banking history."
But, as you mentioned, this has been a long time coming. I mean, it was 1985 when the lifetime ban on gay male donors went into effect. And that was in the, you know, the height of fear around HIV and AIDS. It wasn't until 2015 that they even dialed that back to still a one-year period of required abstinence before donating.
During COVID they shortened that to three months, and then finally this year they unified these rules for everybody. And so really what this does is it makes the questions based on individual risk rather than sexual orientation. This brings the U.S. into step with other countries like the UK and Canada. And, of course, this is risk-based questions not based on who somebody is.
BLACKWELL: And there are still some exceptions, though, right?
TIRRELL: There are. And, you know, the LGBTQ+ community is still calling this "stigmatizing." So some of the exceptions are based on sexual history. There are also exceptions based on use of anti-viral drugs to prevent HIV infection because the FDA says that that could lead to false negatives in terms of screening out HIV. But, you know, GMHC, which is an HIV AIDS service organization, say that this still perpetuates stigma that we've been seeing with these guidelines for, you know, 30 years.
HARLOW: Yeah.
