A corresponding draft regulation is in the last round of the coalition’s voting talks, the parliamentary correspondence reported. “We are well on the way to a political agreement, finally,” tweeted Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) on Friday. Fortunately, the ÖVP now supports this concern.
“Anyone who wants to help with blood donations should not be prevented from doing so because of their sexual orientation,” wrote Rauch. To be excluded here is “the day before yesterday, discriminatory” and harms everyone through fewer donors. It is now clear that discrimination against gay and bisexual men and their partners when donating blood will end. “The time for this is already overripe,” emphasized the Minister of Health. The goal of the new blood donation regulation is “that in the future, individual risk behavior counts and no longer who chooses which partner,” explained State Secretary for Youth Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP), also on Twitter.
According to parliamentary correspondence, the SPÖ had submitted a motion for a resolution to the National Council’s Health Committee on Thursday and criticized the fact that, despite various political declarations of intent and the more intense debate that has been going on for two years, men who have sex with men (MSM) are still excluded from donating blood. “We are already expecting that something will finally happen. It would be so easy because the green Minister of Health can ultimately do it alone, you don’t have to agree that much,” said NEOS MP Yannick Shetty on Friday in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal”.
Source: Nachrichten
