NI Conservatives’ spokesperson, Lesley Macaulay, has called upon the health minister to reverse the ban on gay men giving blood, after a High Court judge said it was “irrational” and breaches the ministerial code.
“Edwin Poots’ intervention on a purely medical issue, ignoring the best scientific evidence, was an abuse of his post”, Lesley stated. “What next for our health minister? Does he plan to start telling surgeons how to do their operations, based on some other prejudice he might hold?”
“This is not an issue which has anything to do with morality or ethics. It is purely a matter for medical experts to determine how to maximise our supply of safe blood. Edwin Poots, meanwhile, reached his decision, it seems, guided by nothing more than an apparent disdain for homosexuality.”
“It is not acceptable that a minister can meddle in important medical decisions based on personal prejudice and in a way which ignores scientific advice. Edwin Poots has been called to rights in the High Court and should spell out immediately on which basis he decided that he knew better than the experts on this issue. ”