Mobile blood donation unit
Mobile blood donation unitHillel Meir

The stubborn insistence of MDA on substituting the terms “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” for “Father” and “Mother” on blood donation forms is endangering lives, according to Dr. Meir Preis, director of the Hematology Institute at the Carmel Medical Center.

Following MDA’s decision to alter the wording in its documents, many Religious-Zionist yeshivas resolved to cease donating blood. After a few weeks of this boycott, MDA decided to alter the forms yet again, this time omitting all reference to parents, however worded.

However, the boycott remained in place, with Jews supporting traditional values insisting that MDA revert to the forms’ original wording.

Writing on Twitter on Thursday, Dr. Preis posted: “Dear friends, I’m asking you all to set aside your beliefs and basic values for a moment. Forget about the forms – we’re lacking hundreds if not thousands of blood units. Last night, I had to decide whether to keep back blood for a life-saving operation, or give it to a patient hospitalized with coronavirus who was hemorrhaging dangerously. We’re talking about pikuach nefesh – life-and-death issues – literally. We can resume our dispute later – please.”

On Wednesday, Dr. Preis had already warned that blood supplies were running low. “I’m begging anyone who can – pass on this message to everyone you know – please, come and donate blood,” he wrote on Twitter. “Our blood reserves are way beneath the red line. Please go and donate. There are patients who need blood urgently. We’re lacking thousands of units of blood.”

Dr. Preis’ two Twitter posts went viral and prompted numerous responses.

“We already told you a few months ago that we’re prepared to donate blood,” wrote Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, head of the Association of Community Rabbis. “All you have to do is go back to using the original forms, and the very next day, we’ll be there to donate blood in large numbers. You know better than anyone that the ‘sub-humans’ we educate are the ones usually to be credited for donating at least 50 percent of your blood reserves. Stop trying to erase our values.”

Another poster wrote, “Thousands of people who made regular donations until recently are simply waiting to be able to resume. But if MDA ignores them and refuses to restore the ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’ boxes on the forms, then there’s only MDA to blame for what results.”

The Forum for the Family also responded: “MDA caved in to the progressive agenda, leading to a possible danger to lives. MDA’s director should draw the obvious conclusions and resign.”

The Fathers for Justice organization also posted a reply: “MDA chose to ignore us and degrade the status of normative parents, deleting the words ‘father’ and ‘mother’ and promoting this ridiculous agenda – and now they’re surprised at the fury of the silent majority. The public has spoken and this is just the beginning.

“We won’t let you destroy the country and break down the values that unite us as a Jewish state,” they added.

Others disagreed with the boycott, such as Israeli religious comedian Amir Moyal, who wrote: “I know there are people who are prepared to die in order to bring honor to G-d’s Name. But to kill others in G-d’s Name – that’s an interesting twist.”