New Delhi: The Supreme Court has asked the Union Health Ministry to respond to a petition challenging the guidelines framed by it on blood transfusion and blood referral in 2017 that bars trans-genders, gay men and sex workers from donating blood.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra has issued notice to the Union Health Ministry on the issue.
As per the Ministry of Health guidelines framed and adopted on blood donation and referral in 2017, transgender, men who have sex with men, female sex workers are considered to be people with high-risk behaviour and says that a blood donor shall be free free from any disease transmissible by blood transfusion, as afar as can be determined by history and examination.
The guidelines then go on to say that people at risk for HIV infection are permanently deferred from blood donation and include people who are transgender, men who have sex with men, female sex workers, injecting drug users and persons with multiple sex partners.
The petition filed in the Supreme Court claims that such a blanket ban by the authorities on blood donation violates the right to equality, dignity and life granted under Articles 14,15 17 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
The petition also argues that the guidelines enacted by the ministry are prejudiced and based of western and presumptive view of gay men and of late many countries have revisited the view on gay men.
It is also argued in the petition that barring gay men from blood donation is based on the presumption that they suffer from sexually transmitted diseases and it affects the right to life and dignity of gay men.
Moreover, science has made progress which can screen out donors in risk category before transfusion and total prohibition is discriminatory.