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The Food and Drug Administration reversed a decades-old ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, concluding that modern blood screening makes the ban unnecessary. ... The change won’t occur immediately. First, the agency will publish a draft guidance in 2015, followed by a comment period, said Peter Marks, deputy director of the FDA’s center for biologics evaluation and research. After that — perhaps in 2015, depending on the comments — the guidance will become final. (Burton, 12/23)

The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it would scrap a decades-old lifetime prohibition on blood donation by gay and bisexual men, a major stride toward ending what many had seen as a national policy of discrimination. However, the agency will continue to ban men who have had sex with a man in the last year, saying the barrier is necessary to keep the blood supply safe, a move that frustrated rights groups that were pushing for the ban to be removed entirely. (Tavernise, 12/23)

The Food and Drug Administration plans to lift its lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have had sex with other men, and will propose replacing it with a one-year ban after homosexual activity, the agency announced Tuesday. Gay rights groups, which have long advocated a change to the ban, largely decried the announcement, saying that expecting gay blood donors to remain celibate for a year is not reasonable or medically necessary. (Zauzmer, 12/23)

Though less visible than the struggle to allow gays to serve openly in the military or the effort to legalize same-sex marriage, the campaign to end the 31-year ban on blood donation has become an important cause for those who see it as homophobic and unfair. The FDA was caught between the civil rights of prospective gay donors and its mandate to protect public health. The FDA’s decision came a few weeks after a panel of independent experts concluded that imposing a waiting period, or deferral, of one year on those donors would not endanger the safety of the nation’s supply of donated blood. That panel relied heavily on the experience of Australia, which in 2000 adopted a one-year deferral policy for men who have had sex with men. (Healy, 12/23)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended dropping its blanket ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual donors in favor of a less restrictive policy. The proposed policy change, which will be offered for public comment next year, would allow gay men to donate blood if they had not engaged in sex with another man for at least a year. (Stanglin, 12/23)

Since the early days of the AIDS crisis, much has changed, but one ban has endured. Gay and bisexual men have not been allowed to give blood, out of fear they could transmit HIV. (Ifill, 12/23)

LGBT advocates have already spoken up, saying that while the announcement was long overdue, it represents only a modest step toward a completely non-discriminatory law. “Ultimately, it’s not enough,” said Ryan James Yezak, founder of the National Gay Blood Drive. “The reason people are so frustrated is that this is the announcement after 31 years, and this is all that’s being done.” “But I think the frustration is reactionary,” Yezak said, adding that it was important to note that the process is incredibly complicated and time-consuming. (Barajas, 12/23)

LGBT advocacy groups are condemning the federal government’s new plans to allow gay men to donate blood only if they have been celibate for one year, calling the policy a “de facto lifetime ban.” The Food and Drug Administration drew praise Tuesday when it announced plans to ease a 31-year-old prohibition on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, which has been widely described as medically unwarranted. (Ferris, 12/23)