Verite News: Louisiana upholds its HIV exposure law as other states change or repeal theirs
This article in Verite News, a nonprofit news outlet in New Orleans, focuses on the impact of Louisiana's HIV exposure law as lawmakers seek to expand it to include other STIs.
Louisiana is already one of the most stringent states in its enforcement of HIV criminalization. Under its “intentional exposure” law, individuals who know their HIV-positive status must disclose it and obtain consent before any potential exposure; failure to do so can result in felony charges, mandatory sex offense registration, and severe life disruptions—such as restrictions on living, employment, and public access—even if a person has been undetectable for years. The article profiles Robert Smith, who has been living with the negative impacts of sex offense registration for more than a decade.
Many states have recently amended these laws, including full repeals in North Dakota and Maryland this year. Public health experts argue that punitive measures actually deter testing and treatment and fail to account for modern scientific understanding of transmission risk. CHLP Staff Attorney Sean McCormick described the barrier these laws create: they provide a “clear disincentive” for people to get tested—since ignorance of one’s status nullifies liability—and thus undermine public health efforts.
This year in Louisiana, lawmakers proposed expanding the statute to include other STIs. While the bill, HB76, didn't advance, a task force was created to study the issue and advocates continue to push lawmakers to amend the law to remove the sex offense registration requirement, to require transmission to have occurred, and to require clear intent to transmit the virus.
