Is it okay to lie so you can donate blood?

[Just_Wondering1]

I am a man who has previously engaged in sexual relations with another man. While I have now chosen to live chastely, I have been told that if a man performs certain sexual practices with another man just once, he is totally disqualified from donating blood. I have only had one partner in the past, and I know for a fact that I have no STDs. Can I lie so that my blood can be used to help save other people’s lives? It would grieve me to know that I will never be able to donate blood, but perhaps that is just how it must be.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Actions have consequences that can reverberate for the rest of one’s life. One consequence of choosing to engage in sexual practices that are not just sinful but physiologically unsafe is that you can no longer donate blood. These regulations are not meant as a “punishment” but to protect the lives of innocent people who are depending on safe blood transfusions.

To lie about your sexual history so that you can give blood would mean that you would be putting other people’s lives at risk. To do so would not be generous or self-sacrificing, but would instead be incredibly selfish and self-serving. (In other words, to lie about your sexual history would mean that you would be willing to put at risk other people’s lives so that you could feel good about yourself for giving blood.)

Instead of considering lying in order to give blood, I recommend that you try to understand that abstaining from giving blood because of your past history is in fact a means by which you can protect the available blood supply upon which the lives of others depend.