The Morality of Blood Donation in the UK - Essay Example

Rawls’ provided new dimensions to the debate over the morality factor associated with blood donation by men who have already experienced or experienced sexual relationships with other males. This book has become the starting point for most of the contemporary discussion of justice and so would seem a logical place to begin my discussion of why preventing men who have safe sex with men from giving blood is unjust. The main reason to stop men, having experienced sexual relations with other men, is to put a restrain on sexually transmitted diseases but the reason, however, is not clear why those people are also stopped from donating blood, and undertake precautionary measures before being involved in a sexual relationship.

As we delve deep into this issue, it becomes gradually clear that the social discriminative approach against gays is the main reason for such acts of prevention. These aspects are not very uncommon even in modern society and definitely put a great challenge before the issues of morality. The right to donate blood is applied to all, irrespective of color, sex, creed, and sexual orientation, as it is essentially related to the great issue of morality, that is, to save a life. Restriction over blood donation by gays is definitely a great hindrance in the path of fulfillment of such moral aspects.

Thus, this is high time that we consider the issue with sincerity and try to judge how far the restriction on blood donation issue is relevant in the modern context. Blood and blood products are vital in modern health care and are used in a myriad of situations from surgery to trauma to chronic disease management. Every day it is important for many people’s lives that blood continues to be donated. 7,000 donations are needed in the UK every day to maintain healthy bloodstocks (NHS Blood and Transplant 2008) “[I]n a survey reported in 1991, current and lapsed donors were asked why they gave blood.