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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 28, 2024 09:50 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Vincent J. Hughes |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Decriminalizing HIV in Pennsylvania |
| In the near future, I plan on introducing legislation to decriminalize HIV in the Commonwealth. In Pennsylvania, people living with HIV have been prosecuted under generally applicable laws for conduct that would not be a crime, or would be a less serious crime, but for their HIV status. HIV criminalization laws have not kept up with the four decades of progress in the fight against HIV, and do not reflect current scientific knowledge around HIV prevention, transmission, and treatment. HIV is a manageable chronic health condition that can be effectively treated with anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published information regarding the risk factors involved in HIV transmission, dispelling the myth that HIV can be transmitted through saliva and showing that activities like oral sex, spitting, or biting present a low or negligible risk of HIV transmission. Additionally, the CDC has outlined a number of mechanisms including barrier protection, such as condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and ART that are effective in preventing the transmission of HIV. Pennsylvania law should reflect this scientific understanding, while having the flexibility to adapt to future developments in research. While prostitution is typically a misdemeanor offense, people living with HIV in Pennsylvania who are charged with prostitution can be charged with a felony even if transmission would not be possible, because no physical contact occurred or the nature of contact is not a method of transmission. HIV criminalization laws do not reflect the science around HIV prevention, transmission, and treatment. Instead they stigmatize people living with HIV, and are contrary to federal and state anti-disability discrimination laws. Criminalizing conduct that cannot result in HIV transmission is stigmatizing as everyone living with HIV becomes a potential criminal by virtue of their diagnosis. Stigma undermines public health goals. According to the White House’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States 2022-2025, “HIV-related stigma and discrimination continue to undermine the effective use of tools to reduce HIV transmissions”. Prostitution is a low enforcement priority for most Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies. According to a report from the Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, in 2022, only 84 prostitution cases and 97 cases of soliciting prostitution were charged across the entire state. Although it is unknown how many of these cases involved the felony charge for a person living with HIV, this demonstrates that policing sex work is a low priority for the Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system and this antiquated law is unnecessary. By keeping discrimination against people living with HIV embedded in Pennsylvania law, the state also faces the prospect of costly legal challenges. On December 1, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued findings that Tennessee is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by enforcing its aggravated prostitution law, which similarly makes prostitution a felony offense for people living with HIV. The same logic applies to Pennsylvania’s felony prostitution law and efforts are currently underway in Tennessee to amend its prostitution statute to align with the DOJ findings. Pennsylvania should do the same before any legal challenges are brought to its laws. Please join me in co-sponsoring this crucial legislation to decriminalize HIV in Pennsylvania and ensure that no Pennsylvanian is at risk of enhanced criminal penalties based on a virus. |
Introduced as SB1122