Felony charges prompt call for change to 'outdated' Ohio laws criminalizing HIV
Watch a previous NBC4 report on Ohio's HIV-criminalization laws in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio laws criminalizing HIV, including a statute barring those with the virus from donating blood, could soon be amended after nearly 80 faced prosecution for failing to disclose their HIV status to sexual partners.
House Bill 498 has been introduced to repeal Ohio revised code penalizing individuals with HIV who attempt to donate blood, while House Bill 513 has been proposed to amend five other laws that have yielded more than 200 HIV-related criminal prosecutions. Introduced by Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton), the bills are backed by a bipartisan group who said the current laws are "based on an outdated understanding of HIV and only help to further stigma."
"It is crucial for Ohio lawmakers 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," said Nate Albright, the director-at-large of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.
The proposals come after at least 214 Ohioans were charged from 2014 to 2020 under the laws, including seventy-seven 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.
Most recently, a Marietta sex worker was charged with engaging in solicitation after a positive HIV test, leading police to issue a public health notice. The woman was indicted in Washington County for allegedly engaging in sex acts with at least 211 individuals from early 2022 through May of this year.
The six Ohio laws were originally passed to reduce transmission and end the AIDS epidemic. However, the statutes have not been reviewed by the legislature since the 1990s and are outdated given they do not reflect current scientific understanding of HIV, the group said.
These 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.
"HIV criminalization laws are informed by stigma, not science," said Rhea Debussy, director of external affairs at Equitas Health. "In our state, HIV criminalization laws are disproportionately used against women and Black Ohioans. Modernizing our laws will help to address the inequity and stigma facing people living with HIV here in Ohio."
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.