1.1 	A resolution
1.2 	memorializing the President and Congress to direct the United States Food and Drug 
1.3 	Administration to revise its current blood or plasma donor deferral policy related to 
1.4 	men who have had sex with a man and to women who have had sex with a man who 
1.5 	has had sex with another man within the previous 12 months from the most recent 
1.6 	contact.
1.7 	WHEREAS, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood; and
1.8 	WHEREAS, approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells, 10,000 units of plasma, and 7,000 
1.9 	units of platelets are needed every day in the United States; and
1.10 	WHEREAS, less than ten percent of people eligible to donate blood choose to do so each 
1.11 	year; and
1.12 	WHEREAS, the United States is facing a critical shortage of blood donations; and
1.13 	WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration reviews and approves all test 
1.14 	kits used to detect infectious diseases in donated blood and that all blood in the United States is 
1.15 	subject to mandatory tests to detect various transmittable diseases, including HIV; and
1.16 	WHEREAS, all donated blood must be quarantined until it is tested and shown to be free of 
1.17 	infectious agents; and
1.18 	WHEREAS, HIV is detectable in ten to 33 days after exposure using a nucleic acid test; and
1.19 	WHEREAS, donated blood and plasma has limited viability; red blood cells may be held for 
1.20 	up to 42 days; platelets may be held for up to five days; and plasma may be frozen and stored for 
1.21 	up to one year; and
1.22 	WHEREAS, advances in HIV donor testing have reduced the risk of HIV transmission from 
1.23 	blood transmissions to about one in 1.47 million transfusions; and
2.1 	WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration's current blood and plasma 
2.2 	donor recommendation is donor deferral for 12 months from the most recent contact for men who 
2.3 	have had sex during the past 12 months with another man, and for 12 months from the most recent 
2.4 	contact for women who have had sex during the past 12 months with a man who has had sex with 
2.5 	another man in the past 12 months; and
2.6 	WHEREAS, this donor deferral policy prohibits approximately 19 million American men 
2.7 	and women from donating blood and plasma; and
2.8 	WHEREAS, one donation can potentially save up to three lives; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.9 	BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President  
2.10 	and the Congress of the United States to direct the United States Food and Drug Administration to 
2.11 	reevaluate and revise its current donor deferral policy regarding blood and plasma donations from 
2.12 	men who have had sex with men and women who have had sex with men who have had sex with 
2.13 	another man to a donor deferral policy based on an individual assessment of the risk posed by the 
2.14 	donor based on recent potential exposures.
2.15 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the 
2.16 	President and the Congress of the United States to direct the United States Food and Drug 
2.17 	Administration to compile data on the effectiveness of the use of donor educational materials and 
2.18 	questionnaires on safe sexual practices for the prevention of transfusion-transmitted infections 
2.19 	through donated blood; develop reliable screening measures based on available scientific evidence 
2.20 	to assess individual donor risk; and facilitate the implementation of reliable monitoring systems in 
2.21 	order to ensure the safety of the United States blood supply.
2.22 	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed  
2.23 	to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the  
2.24 	President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United  
2.25 	States House of Representatives, the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, the  
2.26 	chair of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, and Minnesota's Senators and  
2.27 	Representatives in Congress.