Governor Kemp signs bill modernizing HIV disclosure laws

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp has signed into law a bill that modernizes some of Georgia’s rules around HIV-status disclosure.

Under the prior law, any person living with HIV who did not disclose positive HIV status prior to a sexual act could face a felony charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to Georgia Equality, an LGBT advocacy group.

The revised law is narrower in scope. Now, Georgia law penalizes only those sexual acts performed by a person living with HIV “with the intent to transmit HIV” when the act “has a significant risk of transmission based on current scientifically supported levels of risk transmission.”

Such incidents could still be punished as felonies, but the maximum punishment has been reduced to five years.

The bill also excludes punishment when a person living with HIV is forced to perform a sexual act against his or her will, as in cases of sexual assault or rape.

State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, initially sponsored the bill in the Senate. It was strongly supported by Georgia Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, the chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill passed the Senate with just two “no” votes before clearing the House unanimously.

“The current HIV laws were written in the 1980s,” Hufstetler said Wednesday, May 11. “They really didn’t distinguish between HIV and AIDS [and] criminalized hypodermic needles and syringes.

“I’m hoping that laws that align with public health best practices will contribute to better control of individuals that have obtained [HIV] and also a reduced infection rate. As an anesthesia provider in the medical community, I believe it’s my responsibility to correct these things in laws when I become aware of them,” Hufstetler said.