Yesterday I reposted about AJ Betts, the young man who endured torment and bullying at school until he finally took his own life — see that post HERE.
I told his story again because the bullying didn’t end upon AJ’s death; he wanted to donate his organs to help others who might need them, and while his heart, liver and lungs helped save a few lives, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] declared that, because AJ was gay and may have been sexually active, his eyes could not be donated — see that post HERE.
The policy of the FDA was established some 30 years ago during the early, panicked, “It’s a gay disease” days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and it’s well past time the policy was changed. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find a comment on that post from AJ’s mother, Sheryl Moore:
"God bless you for blogging about my son's story. I appreciate it so much. If you and your readers oppose this outdated FDA regulation, I would urge you to PLEASE sign this petition [at Change.org]: Change the policy of automatically excluding homosexualsfrom donation of organs and tissue, and blood donation. Thank you, and keep-up the good work. Together, we can create change!"
So, why don’t y’all take the next second to click that link and sign that petition, in AJ’s memory?
It’s a good thing.
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Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Take A Moment and Sign Your Name For AJ Betts ... and Others
Labels:
AIDS,
AJ Betts,
Blood Donation,
FDA,
HIV,
LGBTQ+,
Organ Donations,
Sheryl Moore
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Let's hope it works. :-)
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