A group of US Senators led by Senator John Kerry, is urging the Food and Drug Administration to lift the ban preventing gay men from donating blood. The ban was put into place at the height of the HIV scare at a time when the disease was not well understood and the technology to detect HIV in donated blood was just not reliable. The thought behind the ban was that even though donated blood and blood donors are tested, those people who are infected but have yet to develop HIV antibodies could get by the screening system allowing HIV contaminated blood to enter the national blood supply. This along with the increased probability that a gay man would have been exposed to HIV led the FDA to ban gay men from donating. People opposed to the ban argue the technology is more advanced and the screening techniques much more accurate. The FDA however argues that even straight people are required ti wait a year after having sex with a prostitute before they can donate. The group of Senators hope that the national donated blood shortage will push the FDA into easing the gay donation ban. Time will tell.