Reports of lawmakers proposing that it no longer be a felony to knowingly expose others to HIV by engaging in unprotected sex and not telling the partner have received strong responses since Friday. The proposal made by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener would make the act a misdemeanor. According to the LA Times, who originally reported the story, this would also apply to those who donate to blood and sperm banks without disclosing that they have HIV/AIDS.
Scrolling down Twitter, the responses varied from the “government legalizing murder” to the blatant spreading of misinformation about what this proposal even would accomplish. The stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS makes starting conversations surrounding issues like this important, and legislature to fit changing times necessary.
Criminalizing HIV does more harm than good, and the notion that it should be criminalized ties back to the early days of AIDS panic. Before modern treatments, HIV was a terrifying disease that quickly wiped out masses. Lack of understanding of how it spread lead to hysteria. This resulted in Congress providing state funding for HIV health care in 1990 in exchange for criminalizing the disease.
The affect: People being imprisoned for years, and in many cases having to register as sex offenders, due to these fears of HIV.
According to a study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, there have been 357 convictions in California for HIV-specific felonies. A majority of these cases resulted from prostitute solicitation incidents. So, HIV-positive sex workers can be charged simply because of their status.
An analysis by researchers with the CDC and Department of Justice found that at least 67 laws that specifically target persons living with HIV had been enacted by 2011. A majority of these laws were passed before medical advances in recent years. Treatments have been developed that have allowed people's lives to be extended significantly, with the number of deaths from AIDS worldwide dropping from 2 million in 2005 to 1.1 million in 2016.
Regarding the blood donation concern, blood donations are required to be thoroughly tested for HIV, and blood that tests positive is safely discarded and not used for transfusions. Donated blood is also tested for Hepatitis B and C, the bacterium that causes syphilis, and even West Nile Virus. Decriminalized blood donation for HIV+ folks doesn't mean that suddenly people who are positive will try donating blood. That "HIV+ folks are out to get us" mindset is the exact reason why eliminating the stigma is so important.
What many seem to disregard is that this law that criminalizes HIV, targets those who spread it through consensual sex. Getting tested, and sharing your status with your partner is something that both parties need to take responsibility for in any sexual relationship.
Decriminalizing HIV is a step in the right direction, and we must continue the fight to end the stigma surrounding HIV through education.
