Committee OKs lowering age limit for blood donations

The Senate Medical Affairs Committee passed out a bill allowing 16-year-olds to donate blood, with written parental permission.

If approved, the Senate bill would the lower age a minor could give blood by a year, matching the legal threshold observed in 15 other states, including Georgia. "We have to import blood into South Carolina because we don't give enough," stated Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, who sponsored the bill.

Current law requires both an age and weight stipulation in order to donate blood in South Carolina. The new bill would not allow donors under 18 to sell their blood without parental consent.
-- Roddie Burris