Time for science to lead

Iowa isn't a state with a dense population of HIV positive people, but it is state that has singled out individuals with a specific disease for harsh penalties. We now have a chance to end the witch hunt with a common-sense law based in science.

Iowa passed its existing Criminal Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus law in 1998, a response to the federal 1990 Ryan White Care Act that required states to have such laws on the books in order to be eligible for monetary disbursements. Only two years later, the federal law was reauthorized and did not include the mandate, but Iowa's legacy continued even as science-based knowledge grew regarding HIV, the virus that can result in AIDS.

It is ironic that the existing law was titled Criminal Transmission, because the law does not require transmission for there to be a crime. It also makes no distinction between forcible or purposeful acts of violence and consensual (if sometimes misguided) sexual encounters where safety is practiced. Likely because of limited knowledge of HIV at the time and because the language was borrowed from a sample law by conservative group ALEC, the Iowa law was written in such a vague manner as to make a felony the intimate contact we understand to be nearly impossible for spreading the virus, punishable by up to 25 years in prison - the second-most harsh punishment in the United States.

The only true defense to the law is to not be aware of HIV status. To that end, the law intended as public protection has served as a disincentive to testing and treatment.

The newly written law (see http://tinyurl.com/mo5ovbd) no longer singles out HIV/AIDS and incorporates scientific understanding of how contagious or infectious diseases are transmitted. Individuals intent on the purposeful harm of others continue to face strict penalties and lengthy jail sentences. Reckless actions still are held accountable, and incentives for testing and treatment are back on the table.

Gov. Terry Branstad, sign the bill.

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