‘DUP blood donation ban must be abandoned immediately’ – Newry MLA Megan Fearon

Local Sinn Féin MLA Megan Fearon has stated the appeal lodged by the Health Minister Jim Wells against gay men giving blood must be dropped immediately.

Sinn Fein MLA Megan Fearon

Her call follows the revelation that the Department of Health has no evidence to support the continuation of an outright ban on gay men giving blood in Northern Ireland.

The Newry & Armagh Sinn Féin representative said, “People were clearly amazed when it was revealed the Department of Health have no evidence to support the continuation of an outright ban on gay men giving blood.

“The Minister has chosen to challenge in the courts what a judge has called an ‘irrational decision’ which is ‘infected with apparent bias’.

“This only reinforces the very clear perception in the mind of the public that this decision, by subsequent DUP health ministers, is being made in terms of personal religious beliefs rather than medical evidence.

“What we see is public money being flushed away by the Health Minister to go to court despite having no evidence to present.

Fearon added, “This legal challenge by the department should be withdrawn immediately. It is clear that any blood donated from anyone is thoroughly screened yet here we have a Health Minister operating on bias rather than fact.”

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=48906

Posted by Newry Times News on Feb 6 2015. Filed under Community, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry