HIV & The Law
Know Your Legal Rights and Legal Risks
People living with HIV have legal protection against discrimination in some circumstances.
It is important to be aware of your rights to protect yourself and know when you can take legal action against discrimination.
However, people living with HIV also face unique legal risks through HIV criminalization. Understanding these laws is important to avoid potential legal consequences.
Know Your Rights!
People living with HIV have legal protections against discrimination under three laws:
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits health and human services organizations that receive federal funding or assistance from discrimination based on health status including HIV/AIDS.1
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits employers, state and local entities, and places of public accommodation from discrimination based on health status including HIV/AIDS.1
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits health programs and activities from discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability.1
Under these laws, discrimination refers to not allowing someone to participate in a service offered to others, or denying someone a benefit because they are living with HIV.
Employment, Housing, & Public Accommodation
People with HIV may face employment discrimination or job loss due to their HIV status. However, employment discrimination and housing discrimination based on HIV status is illegal. Individuals with HIV cannot be fired or denied housing, including shelters and rehabilitation facilities, due to their HIV status.7 People with HIV are legally protected from discrimination from public spaces including hotels, restaurants, and theaters under Title II Of The Civil Rights Act.8
Healthcare
Know Your Risks! What is HIV Criminalization?
HIV Criminalization Law is a term used to describe laws that either criminalize otherwise legal conduct or increase the penalties for illegal conduct based on a person’s HIV status.
HIV Criminalization in the United States
35 states have STI or HIV laws that criminalize certain actions.2
14 states have laws that criminalize spitting, biting, and oral sex, which pose zero or negligible risk of transmitting HIV.2
10 states require people living with HIV to disclose their status to sexual partners and 3 states require disclosure to needle sharing partners.2
12 states have maximum sentences over 10 years including up to life in prison for HIV convictions even if prevention measures are used.2
Prevention measures like condom use, viral suppression, and PrEP are only viable defenses against prosecution in 10 states.2
HIV Criminalization in Louisiana
While some states criminalize HIV through broader STI laws, Louisiana has an HIV specific law. This law was drafted in 1987 at a time when there was heighted stigma and fear surrounding HIV and there were major gaps in scientific knowledge about HIV.4
While scientific understanding of HIV, HIV prevention, and HIV treatment has advanced over the past 40 years, the law has not evolved to reflect current medical knowledge.
The law criminalizes “intentional exposure to HIV.” “Intentional exposure” can be through sexual contact, or through any other ‘means or contact’ without that person’s prior consent. Intentional exposure to HIV is a felony and requires registration on the sex offender registry.3
The language of the law is broad. Neither ‘means or contact’ nor ‘sexual contact’ are defined in the intentional exposure statute or anywhere else in Louisiana’s Criminal Code.
Since the definition of sexual contact can include actions that cannot transmit HIV, people living with HIV can be prosecuted for exposing someone to HIV. This can happen even if the actions in question pose negligible or no risk of HIV transmission.5
Want to know more?
HIV criminalization laws can be reformed through repealing, modernizing, and deprioritizing them. In instances where reform is not feasible, using updated scientific and medical knowledge when deciding cases can mitigate the harm done by HIV criminalization laws.1
Nationally, 12 states have modernized or repealed their HIV criminalization laws.1 The following are resources to learn more about the law or get involved:
If you are living with HIV and feel that you have been discriminated against, please contact: CrescentCare (504) 821-2601
Sources
- Civil Rights. HIV.gov. https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/living-well-with-hiv/your-legal-rights/civil-rights/
- CDC. HIV Criminalization and Ending the HIV Epidemic | Law | Policy and Law | HIV/AIDS | CDC. www.cdc.gov. Published June 24, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/policies/law/criminalization-ehe.html
- Louisiana | The Center for HIV Law and Policy. www.hivlawandpolicy.org. Published July 22, 2013. https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/state-profiles/louisiana
- 2018 Louisiana Laws :: Revised Statutes :: TITLE 14 – Criminal Law :: RS 14:43.5 – Intentional exposure to HIV. Justia Law. Published 2018. Accessed April 9, 2024. https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2018/code-revisedstatutes/title-14/rs-14-43.5/
- HIV Criminalization in the United States a Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice. Third. The Center for HIV Law and Policy; 2024. https://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Louisiana%20-%20Excerpt%20from%20CHLP%27s%20Sourcebook%20on%20HIV%20Criminalization%20in%20the%20U.S..pdf
- thisisloyal.com L |. Enforcement of HIV Criminalization in Louisiana. Williams Institute. Published September 2022. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/hiv-criminalization-louisiana/
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act. Hud.gov. Published 2000. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/fair_housing_act_overview
- Title II Of The Civil Rights Act (Public Accommodations). www.justice.gov. Published August 6, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/crt/title-ii-civil-rights-act-public-accommodations
