'HIV is not a crime:' Ohio laws criminalizing virus 'exacerbate disparities,' lawmaker says

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Republican lawmaker pushing to amend Ohio laws criminalizing HIV, like a statute barring those with the virus from donating blood, argues the measures are "outdated" and "do not reflect our current understanding."

Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) has introduced House Bill 498 to repeal Ohio's revised code penalizing individuals with HIV who attempt to donate blood, and House Bill 513 to amend five other laws that have yielded more than 200 HIV-related criminal prosecutions. Both proposals are set to receive their first hearings in the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday.

"It is crucial for Ohioans to recognize that HIV is not a crime, it is a health condition that requires that supportive network of healthcare professionals across the state dedicated to ending the HIV epidemic," Carruthers said.

The legislation comes after at least 214 Ohioans were charged from 2014 to 2020 under the laws, including 77 cases litigated under a felonious assault charge that penalizes those with HIV for engaging in sexual conduct without divulging their medical history. The offense can result in a second-degree felony conviction, carrying a $15,000 fine and a two-to-eight-year prison sentence.

More than half, 120 cases, charged the defendants for exposing others to their bodily fluid, like by spitting or biting. The remaining 17 cases from 2014 to 2020 were related to sex work, under solicitation and prostitution laws that can penalize HIV-positive Ohioans for activities that don't lead to the transmission of the virus.

The six Ohio laws were originally passed to end the AIDS epidemic when many states implemented criminal exposure laws to discourage behavior that might lead to transmission, promote safe sex practices and receive funding to support HIV prevention.

However, 30 years of HIV research and biomedical advancements to treat and prevent transmission show that the laws "are now outdated and do not reflect our current understanding of HIV," Carruthers said. Instead, these laws "have been shown to increase stigma, exacerbate disparities, and may discourage HIV testing."

"Both H.B. 498 and 513 would remove stigmatizing and inaccurate language from several laws and would provide protections against non-consensual HIV testing and HIV information disclosure," said Carruthers, who is looking to find a representative who will continue advocating for the bills after her term ends this year.

Carruthers' claims are backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which states HIV is not spread through saliva or unbroken skin and there are no documented cases of the virus spreading through spitting. Those living with HIV also cannot pass the virus through sex when they have reached an undetectable level of HIV in their blood, achieved through medication estimated to be 100% effective. 

The proposals also follow a recent federal ruling that struck down a provision requiring health insurance to provide free preventative care services in Ohio like PrEP, a once-daily pill taken to reduce a patient’s likelihood of developing HIV from sex or injection drug use. Nearly 9,000 Ohioans are taking a form of PrEP while more than 27,000 Ohioans are living with HIV, according to data from AIDSVu and the Ohio Department of Health.