WASHINGTON, D.C., January 11, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – In the United States, it is illegal for someone with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) to keep that fact from his or her sexual partners. Planned Parenthood says that law is against the civil rights of people living with HIV.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation published in 2010 a guide for youth infected with HIV titled “Healthy, Happy and Hot.” The pamphlet is being introduced overseas in new areas, recreating controversy by teaching that those with HIV do not have to disclose their infection status to those they could infect. HIV is the virus that leads to Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
“People living with HIV have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose their HIV status,” the brochure instructs, despite U.S. law to protect the health of potential infectees.
This flies in the face of sound medical advice, according to the world-respected Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic medical experts write that in addition to using condoms, infected persons should “[t]ell your sexual partners if you have HIV. It's important to tell anyone with whom you've had sex that you're HIV-positive. Your partners need to be tested and to receive medical care if they have the virus. They also need to know their HIV status so that they don't infect others.”
The Planned Parenthood instructional booklet even goes so far as to advise young people to break the law. “Your decision about whether to disclose may change with different people and situations. You have the right to decide if, when, and how to disclose your HIV status.”
Planned Parenthood considers the law to be discriminatory. “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.”
Planned Parenthood continues, “There are lots of people who don't mind whether their partner is HIV negative or positive” and tells teens that it's their right to “experience sexual pleasure” and that “you've done nothing wrong.”
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“It is insanity to believe that it is okay for anyone to engage in sexual activity while infected with HIV and not be required to share this information with their sexual partners,” Bryan Kemper, director of youth outreach for Priests for Life and president of Stand True Ministries, told LifeSiteNews. “For Planned Parenthood to encourage people with HIV to keep that secret from sexual partners, they are supporting criminal negligence, and should be charged as an accessory if someone is infected with HIV because of this.”
Kemper concluded, “Once again, Planned Parenthood proves to be an organization that has no respect for life or their patents as long as they can keep them coming back again and again.”
The Planned Parenthood instruction ends with an admonition to fight the law: “Get involved in advocacy to change laws that violate your rights.”
Over 1.2 million people have HIV, and about 20 percent of those infected do not know it. WND reports that only 2 percent of the U.S. population is homosexual or bisexual, yet those have the largest percentage of HIV-infected people and are the only risk group with an increasing HIV infection rate. Most new HIV infections occur among those who engage in homosexual activity.
The American Journal of Public Health published a study in 2003 that estimated that 60,000 self-aware HIV-positive men and women have sex with others without disclosing their HIV-positive status. It is illegal in at least 35 states to knowingly expose another person to HIV.
New Jersey resident Ricky Webster, who was born with HIV yet knowingly had sex with three women without disclosing his condition, was convicted of reckless endangerment and sentenced to 33 to 66 months in jail.
