Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/aids

Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/aids?





I think anytime you engage in sexual relations with someone you should inform that person of any STD that you have.


http://www.ippf.org/NR/rdonlyres/B4462DDE-487D-4194-B0E0-193A04095819/0/HappyHealthyHot.pdf

Some countries have laws that violate the right
of young people living with HIV to decide whether
to disclose. Young people living with HIV can take
steps to protect themselves.
Some countries have laws that say people
living with HIV must tell their sexual
partner(s) about their status before having
sex, even if they use condoms or only
engage in sexual activity with a low risk
of giving HIV to someone else. These laws
violate the rights of people living with HIV
by forcing them to disclose or face the
possibility of criminal charges.
Strategies to protect yourself:
• Find out the specifi c laws in your country, visit The Global Criminalisation Scan - About the Global Criminalisation Scan and
read Verdict on a Virus (IPPF, GNP+, ICW) Guides and Toolkits
Verdict+on+a+virus.htm or speak to your service providers or local support group.
• Open communication and trust are important for healthy relationships. At the same
time, it is also wise to take steps to protect yourself from criminalization. The best
way to protect yourself is to share your status with your partner(s) before becoming
intimate (including kissing, oral sex or full penetrative vaginal and anal sex). New laws
criminalising the transmission and exposure of HIV to others are based on whether the
person living with HIV has disclosed their HIV-positive status to their partner(s) or kept
it hidden. If you have disclosed to your partner, it could be a good idea to keep ‘proof’
that you have told your partner about your HIV status.
• Demonstrate that you have taken steps to reduce the chances of your partner(s)
becoming infected. This includes choosing lower risk sexual activities, using condoms
consistently and adhering to your treatment (if you are on ART).
• Get involved in advocacy to change laws that violate your rights. Contact your local
network of people living with HIV.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

Worried about your lover?

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

Yes, they should. It's a fatal disease, and people should be able to make informed choices about whether they want to take the risk of catching it.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

I have gone back and forth on this ever since you posted the question. Personal freedom vs the good of society. Right now I am leaning pretty hard towards the good of society. Personal freedoms are not absolute, just pretty damn important.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

right now, it is a fatal, contagious disease. If you knowingly expose someone to it without their knowledge when you had the opportunity to tell them about it, then I consider the act to be akin to attempted murder or manslaughter.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

I can't imagine the level of moral depravity it would take for someone not to tell their lover that they had HIV/AIDS before engaging in any sexual activity. Its one thing if you didn't know and found out later. But if you have full knowledge of your disease, you have responsibility to not spread it around. Hell, you can't take your kid to a daycare if they have a slight fever. Same principle.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

Redress said:

I have gone back and forth on this ever since you posted the question. Personal freedom vs the good of society. Right now I am leaning pretty hard towards the good of society. Personal freedoms are not absolute, just pretty damn important.

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Their partner just gets the opportunity to make their own informed choice, too.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

A lot of the time, people with HIV don't know they have it.
It's basically symptomless.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

rivrrat said:

right now, it is a fatal, contagious disease. If you knowingly expose someone to it without their knowledge when you had the opportunity to tell them about it, then I consider the act to be akin to attempted murder or manslaughter.

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What she said. It's a fatal, contagious disease. It's your responsibility to not spread it around.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

Poll Question said:

Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/aids

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No.

Should they, however, be required by law to inform their partner before engaging in sexual intercourse with her/him?
Absolutely, I don't see a place for doubt here.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

1069 said:

A lot of the time, people with HIV don't know they have it.
It's basically symptomless.

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I think the laws requiring disclosure only require it when the person knows they have HIV.

These laws seem entirely reasonable to me. I think several states have them in place, and they all should. People who do not disclose are a menace to their sexual partners.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

Dezaad said:

I think the laws requiring disclosure only require it when the person knows they have HIV.

These laws seem entirely reasonable to me. I think several states have them in place, and they all should. People who do not disclose are a menace to their sexual partners.

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They are reasonable, but what with privacy laws and people being able to get tested under fake names at free clinics, it becomes well-nigh impossible for states to keep accurate databases of who has been tested and who therefore "knows" they have HIV.
It's hard to prove someone knew they had it, to the extent that would be required to convict them of murder.

With the situation being what it is, the onus is basically on you, the individual, to use universal precaution, ie to assume everybody has HIV until proven otherwise, just like health care providers do.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

1069 said:

They are reasonable, but what with privacy laws and people being able to get tested under fake names at free clinics, it becomes well-nigh impossible for states to keep accurate databases of who has been tested and who therefore "knows" they have HIV.
It's hard to prove someone knew they had it, to the extent that would be required to convict them of murder.

With the situation being what it is, the onus is basically on you, the individual, to use universal precaution, ie to assume everybody has HIV until proven otherwise, just like health care providers do.

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To add to this statement, it's also difficult to "prove" that a person did not inform his or her sexual partner about his or her HIV status.
You basically only have the partner's word for it.
You might think, "Well, nobody would knowingly have sex with an HIV-infected person, so that proves they were never informed."
But that would be a patently untrue assumption, and it proves nothing, not to the standards the court requires in order to convict someone.

The privacy laws in place are necessary to protect people with HIV from being discriminated against at work, in the housing market, by insurance companies, and many other ways.

HIV is becoming more of a chronic, manageable illness- like diabetes- than a "fatal" one.
Many people infected with HIV today will live long enough to die of something entirely unrelated.
That is not to say it isn't a terrible thing to become infected with; it's just to point out how long these people live, and how ordinary they appear, and how we really need to look at the way society and the law treats them.
Laws made back when the HIV virus was typically fatal within seven years of infection might no longer be adequate today, when people live thirty years or more with this virus.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

1069 said:

With the situation being what it is, the onus is basically on you, the individual, to use universal precaution, ie to assume everybody has HIV until proven otherwise, just like health care providers do.

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That's where I'm at. Morally, a person should tell a potential lover about any STD they know they have but the person with HIV may not even know it. I think having a law in place is a slippery slope that could potentially injure innocent people.

All I know is if it were me, I would never move a relationship to that level without having agreed upon monogamy and having tests first.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

missypea said:

That's where I'm at. Morally, a person should tell a potential lover about any STD they know they have but the person with HIV may not even know it. I think having a law in place is a slippery slope that could potentially injure innocent people.

All I know is if it were me, I would never move a relationship to that level without having agreed upon monogamy and having tests first.

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Yeah, ditto; I just hope this marriage lasts.
I can't imagine putting myself out there again, trying to find someone else.
I'd rather join a convent. :lol:

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

1069 said:

Yeah, ditto; I just hope this marriage lasts.
I can't imagine putting myself out there again, trying to find someone else.
I'd rather join a convent. :lol:

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:lol:

I hear ya. I always told Gary that if he left me I'd swear off men and just get another cat or two.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

missypea said:

I hear ya. I always told Gary that if he left me I'd swear off men and just get another cat or two.

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I'm afraid I have become far too lazy to ever pursue another relationship. I don't want to have to go through all the BS of impressing someone all over again.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

WI Crippler said:

I'm afraid I have become far too lazy to ever pursue another relationship. I don't want to have to go through all the BS of impressing someone all over again.

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Just thinking about it makes me tired.

:lol:

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

I'm kind of in ten's boat on this one. Even if you made this law, it would be a pretty unenforcable law, as most "thought crimes" are. Ideally we'd all hope that someone wouldn't be that much of a bastard, but I would support cases where someone intentionally and maliciously acts to spread a deadly disease, they would be punished.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

rivrrat said:

right now, it is a fatal, contagious disease. If you knowingly expose someone to it without their knowledge when you had the opportunity to tell them about it, then I consider the act to be akin to attempted murder or manslaughter.

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Depraved indifference at the very least.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

I think they should be forced to disclose their HIV/AIDs status before any kind of sexual act. A person has the right to be informed of their partners diseases, especially fatal ones that can drastically alter their future (having aids may mean no children, no marriage, and premature death/suffering). Keeping this secret and still having sex is almost like biological violence. they would be giving someone a deadly disease without knowing it.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

I don't think it should be limited to AIDS either, I think anyone with any form of sexually transmitted disease ought to be required, by law, to inform any potential sexual partner and in fact, get a signed waiver that they were told and accept the potential consequences.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

Cephus said:

I don't think it should be limited to AIDS either, I think anyone with any form of sexually transmitted disease ought to be required, by law, to inform any potential sexual partner and in fact, get a signed waiver that they were told and accept the potential consequences.

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Well, there are only a few that are actually incurable: the viruses. HIV, Herpes, HPV.
It would be difficult enforcing such a law, since apparently at least 75% of sexually active Americans have or have had HPV (it tends to go dormant in the vast majority of people about 18 months after infection, and cause no overt symptoms; one remains potentially contagious for the rest of one's life, though).
Both HPV and Herpes are transmitted via skin-to-skin contact rather than (or as well as, in the case of HPV) via bodily fluids. So a condom doesn't protect against them.

Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

1069 said:

Well, there are only a few that are actually incurable: the viruses. HIV, Herpes, HPV.
It would be difficult enforcing such a law, since apparently at least 75% of sexually active Americans have or have had HPV (it tends to go dormant in the vast majority of people about 18 months after infection, and cause no overt symptoms; one remains potentially contagious for the rest of one's life, though).
Both HPV and Herpes are transmitted via skin-to-skin contact rather than (or as well as, in the case of HPV) via bodily fluids. So a condom doesn't protect against them.

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Re: Should those with HIV/Aids be required by law to tell their lover they have HIV/a

WI Crippler said:

I can't imagine the level of moral depravity it would take for someone not to tell their lover that they had HIV/AIDS before engaging in any sexual activity. Its one thing if you didn't know and found out later. But if you have full knowledge of your disease, you have responsibility to not spread it around. Hell, you can't take your kid to a daycare if they have a slight fever. Same principle.

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The reason they will not tell is because they figure if they tell someone? That person is gonna run for the hills and want nothing more to do with them.

Honestly if someone you had been going out with on a casual basis and wanted to take it to the other level told you they have HIV/AIDS how would you react? Would you still date them? Would you still go out with them?
Would you have sex with them?

Sure we have came a long way in reguards to awareness but some people will hear that and bail as they are not willing to risk the chance they "may" get infected.

For me? I like to think if I had already fell for the person? Knowing they had this or another STD would not change and I would still be with them. I would just make sure we were as safe as we could be.