Blood donation boycott: MDA is considering returning to "father" and "mother" | Israel Today

Boycott and folding

: MDA is considering returning to use the gender forms in which the words "father" and "mother" appear - in contrast to forms with the definitions "parent 1" and "parent 2", to which the organization decided to move last October. The reason: protest by yeshiva students National religions that have declared a blood donation boycott, the registration for which is done in a document in which these definitions have been changed.

A few weeks ago, prominent yeshivas - including the Ramat Gan Yeshiva, the Mitzpe Ramon Yeshiva and the Beit El Yeshiva - discovered that the forms had been changed, and in response, students decided to boycott blood donations.

This is not a trivial matter: in these meetings there are hundreds of blood donors, who on a regular basis provide much-needed donations.

Following the boycott, thousands of blood donations were canceled.

MDA has now decided to refer the matter to the expert committee that advises the Ministry of Health on infusion medicine, and not to make a decision on their own. "The wording of the questionnaire was discussed by the expert committee. It should be emphasized that the only thing that guides us is the concern for the supply of doses and blood components, in a regular and orderly manner, to patients and the injured who need blood transfusions to save their lives."

Shai Glick, CEO of B'Tselem, said: "I welcome MDA's position that it only deals with blood donations and nothing else. MDA is a public organization that does sacred work, and it must not interfere in public and political discourse.

We are confident that the position of the Ministry of Health will adopt the position of MDA, and the forms will remain as they were in the past. "