News

New York, February 13, 2012 – Legal and public health experts are speaking out against criminal charges that have been brought against an HIV-positive man in Branson, MO in connection with an altercation with arresting officers.

In September 2011, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, the first piece of federal legislation to take on the issue of HIV criminalization. Currently, the bill has 25 congressional co-sponsors.

New York, February 1, 2012 – In the Life Media tonight will air the first documentary to examine the effect that HIV-specific criminal laws, used to imprison people living with HIV who fail to disclose their HIV status before sex, have on women living with the virus. The program, titled Perpetuating Stigma, will air on public television stations across the country throughout February.

New York, January 26, 2012 – The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) released today the first set of standards created to ensure that sexual health care is included in basic medical services for young people in detention and other types of state custody, and that it meets minimum requirements for competent care.

The HIV Health Care Access Working Group (HHCAWG) encourages organizations and individuals to submit comments to HHS on the Essential Health Benefits (EHB) bulletin by January 31, 2012.

New York, January 13, 2012 — Today in the United States Supreme Court, The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), a national legal resource and strategy center, joined fifteen other national HIV advocacy organizations in a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the ACA.

"These laws are archaic. They're criminalizing a population of people who should not be criminalized," said Representative Barbara Lee, D-CA, in an Associated Press article yesterday. CHLP Executive Director Catherine Hanssens blames the longevity of the laws on "a seemingly invincible ignorance" about HIV transmission. 

This Thursday, December 8, the Stonewall Policy Alliance and NYU Wagner will be hosting an event called "Moving Forward, Getting to Zero: the AIDS Crisis after 30 Years" from 5:00-7:00 PM

Leading HIV organizations in the U.S. sent a letter to President Obama today about the speech he will deliver on World AIDS Day, December 1st.