State Lawmakers Reconsider HIV Criminalization Law
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) says that the existing law, which makes it a felony to intentionally expose someone to HIV, is outdated: "It's time for California to lead and to repeal these laws to send a clear signal that we are going to take a science-based approach to HIV not a fear-based approach."
The Associated Press:
California Lawmakers Want To Repeal HIV Criminalization Laws
Exposing a person to HIV is treated more seriously under California law than infecting someone with any other communicable disease, a policy some lawmakers say is a relic of the decades-old AIDS scare that unfairly punishes HIV-positive people based on outdated science. Several lawmakers are promoting a bill by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would make it a misdemeanor instead of a felony to intentionally expose someone to HIV, the virus that causes the immune system-weakening disease AIDS. The change would treat HIV like other communicable diseases under California law. (Bollag, 3/8)