Bill would call for younger blood donors
INDIANAPOLIS—Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, said all Senate Bill 46 does is make it possible for 16-year-olds to donate blood if they have their parents’ consent.
Sharyn Whitman, CEO Indiana-Ohio region of the American Red Cross, said, “Currently Indiana law is silent on the issue of 16 year old blood donations,” Sharyn Whitman of the American Red Cross told the Senate Health and Provider Services committee Wednesday.
“We(the Red Cross) now seek to elect specific language to definitively support blood collections from 16 year olds,” Whitman said.
She said the Red Cross sees it as an opportunity to educate parents on the importance on blood donation as a civic duty for their children.
The need for blood increases and so does the need to increase donors, said Whitman.
The committee approved the bill unanimously. It now moves to the full Senate.
