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14 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 485 (2011-2012)
Science or Stigma: Potential Challenges to the FDA's Ban on Gay Blood

handle is hein.journals/upjcl14 and id is 489 raw text is: COMMENTS SCIENCE OR STIGMA: POTENTIAL CHALLENGES TO THE FDA's BAN ON GAY BLOOD Dwaynej. Bensing I. INTRODUCTION There is a great need for blood in the United States.' Each year, 4.5 million Americans will need a blood transfusion.! The American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) estimates that 10.8 million volun- teers donate blood each year, less than ten percent of the eligible donors. The great need for blood, coupled with the small pool of donors, has resulted in blood shortages thatjeopardize the execution of medical procedures. The blood supply in the United States has reached a breaking point. * J.D. Candidate, 2012, University of Pennsylvania Law School, B.A., 2007 University of Ar- kansas. Special thanks to Professor Sophia Z. Lee for her guidance in this process and to my partner, Christopher R. Howland, who provided feedback and encouragement. 1 See, e.g., Blood FAQ AABB, http://www.aabb.org/iesources/bct/Pages/bloodfaq.aspx (last visited Oct. 24, 2011) (Every day in the U.S., approximately 44,000 units of blood are required in hospitals and emergency treatment facilities for patients with cancer and other diseases, for organ transplant recipients, and to help save the lives of acci- dent/trauma victims. In 2008, more than twenty-three million blood components were transfused. And with an aging population and advances in medical treatments and pro- cedures requiring blood transfusions, the demand for blood continues to increase.). 2 56 Facts About Blood, AM.'s BLoOD CTRS., http://www.americasblood.org/ go.cfm?do=page.view&pid=12 (last visited Oct. 24, 2011). 3 See AABB, supra note I (stating that AABB estimates that 10.8 million volunteers donate blood each year and that less than 10 percent of the U.S. population eligible to do- nate blood at any given time actually do so). 4 See Ishani Ganguli, Blood Shortage Puts Safety Measures in Question, REUTERS (Sept. 10, 2007, 10:23 AM), http://www.ieuters.com/article/2007/09/ 10/us-usa-health-blood-idUSN 0642622220070910?pageNumber-=1 (noting that American blood banks experienced one of their driest summers in history and that [iun Washington's Georgetown Universi- ty Hospital, officials came close to canceling nonemergency operations several times this summer). 5 See Red Cross Blood Suptply Dr4s to Critically Low Levels, AM. RED CROSS (July 11, 2011), http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf91ldf43181aaO /?vgnextoid=2b24ae4376dOl3OVgnVCM10000089fO87OaRCRD (stating that the Ameri- can Red Cross issued an appeal for blood donors to roll up a sleeve and address a critical shortage across the nation). 485

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