A Montana Republican is pushing a bill to bar those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine or suffer from "long COVID" from donating blood—a proposal some critics say could effectively eradicate the state's supply of blood.

Formally introduced in the Montana State Legislature on February 17, House Bill 645 proposes a misdemeanor offense for anyone who knowingly donates whole blood, plasma, blood products, blood derivatives, human tissue, organs, or bones containing "gene-altering proteins, nanoparticles, high-count spike proteins from long covid-19, or other isolates introduced by mRNA or DNA vaccines, mRNA or DNA chemotherapies, or other novel mRNA or DNA pharmaceutical biotechnologies."