HIV-AIDS Cure News 2017: California Lowers Penalty For Knowingly Exposing Partners To HIV
A new California law is lowering the penalties for people knowingly exposing their partners to HIV. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the new law last Friday is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
The California legislature passed SB 239 on Sept. 11 despite staunch opposition from Republicans. Prior to the law being passed, offenders were punished with up to eight years in prison for knowingly exposing their partners to the virus.
Now, they will only face up to six months of prison time. The new law also reduces the penalty for knowingly donating HIV-infected blood from a felony to a misdemeanor.
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State Sen. Jeff Stone voted against the bill and strongly expressed his disapproval in September when the Senate voted on it. Many conservative lawmakers joined him saying it could lead to an increase in HIV infections.
However, bill sponsors Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblyman Todd Gloria argued that California law was outdated and stigmatized people living with HIV. Wiener and Gloria, both Democrats, added that given the advances in medicine people who undergo regular treatment has a negligible chance of spreading the infection to others through sexual contact.
Stone, who was also a pharmacist, took aim at Wiener and Gloria's argument saying that three out of four people who are on prescription medication do not comply with their doctor's orders on how to take it. Those who don't take their AIDS medicine and allow the virus to duplicate are able to transmit the disease to an unknowing partner.
Sen. Joel Anderson, another Republican, argued that people who are infected with the virus could never live their lives "to the same extent" again. "It is irresponsible not to disclose the possibility of a life-altering infection," said Anderson.
Nevertheless, despite a strong opposition from conservatives, the bill was passed. This is was celebrated by the Californians for HIV Criminalization Reform organization whose mission was to replace "stigmatizing laws that criminalize HIV status."
"This is an important bill that modernizes California's HIV laws," said Rick Zbur, one of the group's organizers. "It will really advance public health and reduce stigma and discrimination that people living with HIV have suffered."
