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Health officials push forward effort to modernize state HIV/AIDS laws

Health officials and lawmakers are hoping to see Subsitute House Bill 1551 make it through the next legislative session. It would update many of the state's laws relating to HIV and AIDS, which largely haven't been updated since they were adopted in 1988.
Ted S. Warren
/
The Associated Press
Health officials and lawmakers are hoping to see Subsitute House Bill 1551 make it through the next legislative session. It would update many of the state's laws relating to HIV and AIDS, which largely haven't been updated since they were adopted in 1988.

State lawmakers responded to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s with new laws that defined how Washington would respond to and treat the disease. But many of these laws haven't been updated since they were passed. 

In the next legislative session, lawmakers are considering a bill that would reflect advancements made in the last 30 years to prevent and treat HIV.

State Secretary of Health John Wiesman said much of what we know about HIV and AIDS has changed since then.

"It is now treatable, that now undetectable virus means untransmittable, and that there's this medication to prevent people from becoming infected," Wiesman said.

Medication known as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) protects people from the virus. And there's antiretroviral therapy, or ART, which stops HIV from copying itself, lowering the chance of transmission. Wiesman says the bill he's backing would update laws to acknowledge these treatments and prevention plans. It also would provide more resources to health officers who work with people to prevent transmission. 

The proposed update also would address the stigma of AIDS. It's currently a felony in the state to expose someone to HIV if a person knew their status and didn't disclose it or take any precautions to prevent exposure. Wiesman said the bill aims to change that.

"We are looking to update and modernize those laws and making those a potential misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, which seems now appropriate given that HIV is treatable so it's no longer this deadly infection," Wiesman said.

Some prosecuting attorneys voiced concerns about changing the statute when the bill was introduced during the last legislative session. They said it's rarely applied now, and that the felony classification is more fitting because it requires a higher burden of proof.  

Rebekah Way is an on-call news host at KNKX. She began her career in public radio as a news intern at KNKX, where she's also worked as an interim producer and reporter. Rebekah holds a life-long passion for music and also works as a professional musician and educator in the Seattle area.