On 11 October Northern Ireland’s High Court ruled that a lifelong ban on gay men donating blood is "irrational" and is a breach of that jurisdiction’s ministerial code.
A lifelong ban on blood donations from males who have had sex with other males (MSM) was introduced in the UK in the 1980s in response to the AIDS epidemic. The ban was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales in 2011, and replaced with a requirement that men wait at least one year after engaging in MSM before donating blood. Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Edwin Poots decided not to apply the policy change in Northern Ireland. However, blood from elsewhere in the UK continues to be imported to Northern Ireland, notwithstanding the fact that men who have engaged in MSM are now permitted to donate blood if it has been a year or more since their last sexual contact with another man.
An anonymous applicant brought judicial review in this case. The applicant had previously had homosexual relationships. The applicant felt that giving blood is socially responsible and a demonstration of his faith. The applicant expressed concern that the Health Minister’s Democratic Unionist Part (DUP) membership may have prejudiced his consideration of the issue. The DUP and its members have tended to take a strict moral stance against homosexuality.
Mr Justice Treacy said “The Minister has decided that MSM behaviour creates such a high risk of infection to the donor that such donors must be permanently deferred with the result that such blood cannot enter the Northern Ireland Blood Stock. Importing blood from other places which do accept MSM donors, even in limited quantities, leaves the door open for MSM blood to do just that. There is clearly a defect in reason here. If there is a genuine concern about the safety of MSM donated blood such that the blood stock must be protected absolutely from such blood then the security of that blood must actually be maintained absolutely. Applying a different standard to imported blood defeats the whole purpose of permanent deferral of MSM donors”.
Mr Justice Treacy ruled that the Minister’s decision was irrational and that the Health Minister had breached the ministerial code by failing to bring the issue before Northern Ireland’s Stormont executive.
Commenting on the decision, the Chief Executive of the National Aids Trust Deborah Jack said, “NAT hopes that following this judgment, Northern Ireland will end its lifetime ban and will also adopt the 12-month deferral rule used in the rest of the UK, which is based on current scientific evidence about real risk of HIV and Hepatitis B transmission. It is great to see that decisions based on prejudice – not evidence – are being successfully challenged.”
Click here to read the full judgment.
Click here to read a press release from the National Aids Trust.
Click here to read an article about the case in the Guardian.
Click here to read an article about the case in the Belfast Telegraph.