By Gudrun Schultz
TORONT, Ontario, January 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Restricting homosexual men from donating to sperm banks does not violate the Charter of Rights, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled January 12, in a decision that received no mainstream media coverage at the time.
“The medical evidence in the record establishes that there is a higher prevalence of HIV and hepatitis among men in the MSM [men who have sex with men] category,” the three-judge panel stated in the decision, saying the ban on homosexual sperm donation by the federal Processing of Semen for Assisted Contraception Regulations was “rational and health based,” CanWest News Service reported. Men who have had sex with another man since 1977 are prohibited from donating semen due to the significant risk increase of sexually transmitted disease among men practicing homosexual sex.
The case was filed on behalf of a lesbian Toronto woman, known as Susan Doe, who wanted to use sperm donated by a homosexual friend, D., to conceive a child. Ms. Doe’s lesbian partner, known as J., already has a daughter conceived with sperm donated by the couple’s homosexual friend. Ms. Doe was not able to become pregnant after attempting to inseminate herself with D.‘s sperm, and wanted to receive help with the procedure from a clinic.
The 40-year-old woman argued that the ban on homosexual sperm donation violates the equality rights of gays and lesbians, as well as her own right to life, liberty and security of her person by denying her the freedom to decide who will be the father of her child. While men who are donating to their spouse or sexual partner are exempt from the restrictions, donation to a woman who is not in a sexual relationship with the man is prohibited, which Ms. Doe argued was discriminatory against lesbian women.
There is already an exemption in place that permits a homosexual man to donate sperm if their semen undergoes rigorous testing for infection with HIV and other diseases, including a six month quarantine of the semen followed by retesting. Ms. Doe’s lawyers argued that the testing requirements were unnecessary since she knew the donor personally, if not sexually.
The homosexual activist organization Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere intervened in the case, and now are considering whether to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
FDA Bans Gay Sperm Donors
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/may/05050604.html
Gay marriage and Homosexuality: Some Medical Comments
https://www.lifesitenews.com/features/marriage_defence/SSM_MD_evidence.pdf