I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1305 
To modernize laws and policies, and eliminate discrimination, with respect 
to people living with HIV/AIDS, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 24, 2021 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N, Mr. KHANNA, 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. KILMER, Mr. CARSON, Ms. WILSON of 
Florida, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. MOORE of Wis-
consin, Ms. CHU, Ms. BASS, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To modernize laws and policies, and eliminate discrimination, 
with respect to people living with HIV/AIDS, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Repeal Existing Poli-
cies that Encourage and Allow Legal HIV Discrimination 
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Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act 
of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) At present, 32 States and 2 United States 
territories have criminal statutes based on perceived 
exposure to HIV, rather than behaviors motivated by 
an intent to harm, presenting a significant risk of 
transmission and resulting in actual transmission of 
HIV to another. Eleven States have HIV-specific 
laws that make spitting or biting a felony, even 
though it is not possible to transmit HIV via saliva. 
Twenty-four States require persons who are aware 
that they have HIV to disclose their status to sexual 
partners, regardless of whether they are non-infec-
tious. Fourteen of these 24 States also require dis-
closure to needle-sharing partners. Twenty-five 
States criminalize one or more behaviors that pose 
a low or negligible risk for HIV transmission. 
(2) HIV-specific criminal laws are classified as 
felonies in 28 States; in three States, a person’s ex-
posure to another to HIV does not subject the per-
son to criminal prosecution for that act alone but 
may result in a sentence enhancement. Eighteen 
States impose sentences of up to 10 years per viola-
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tion; seven impose sentences between 11 and 20 
years; and five impose sentences of greater than 20 
years. 
(3) When members of the Armed Forces ac-
quire HIV, they are issued orders that require them 
to disclose and use a condom under all cir-
cumstances including when the known risk of trans-
mission is zero. Failure to disclose can result in 
prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Jus-
tice (UCMJ). 
(4) The number of prosecutions, arrests, and 
instances where HIV-based charges are used to in-
duce plea agreements is unknown. Because State- 
level prosecution and arrest data are not readily 
available in any national legal database, the societal 
impact of these laws may be underestimated and 
most cases that go to trial are not reduced to writ-
ten, published opinions. 
(5) State and Federal criminal law does not 
currently reflect the four decades of medical ad-
vances and discoveries made with regard to trans-
mission and treatment of HIV/AIDS. 
(6) According to CDC, correct and consistent 
male or female condom use, or adherence to a pre- 
exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen that results in 
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viral suppression, are very effective in preventing 
HIV transmission. However, most State HIV-spe-
cific laws and prosecutions do not treat the use of 
a condom during sexual intercourse or adherence to 
PrEP as a mitigating factor or evidence that the de-
fendant did not intend to transmit HIV. 
(7) Criminal laws and prosecutions do not take 
into account the benefits of effective antiretroviral 
medications, which suppress the virus to extremely 
low levels and further reduce the already low risk of 
transmitting HIV to near zero. 
(8) In addition to HIV-specific criminal laws, 
general criminal laws are often misused to prosecute 
people based on their HIV status. Although HIV, 
and even AIDS, currently is viewed as a treatable, 
chronic, medical condition, people living with HIV 
have been charged under aggravated assault, at-
tempted murder, and even bioterrorism statutes be-
cause prosecutors, courts, and legislators continue to 
view and characterize the blood, semen, and saliva of 
people living with HIV as a ‘‘deadly weapon’’. 
(9) Multiple peer-reviewed studies demonstrate 
that HIV-specific laws do not reduce risk-taking be-
havior or increase disclosure by people living with or 
at risk of HIV, and there is increasing evidence that 
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these laws reduce the willingness to get tested. Fur-
thermore, placing legal responsibility for preventing 
the transmission of HIV and other pathogens that 
can be sexually transmitted exclusively on people di-
agnosed with a sexually transmitted infection under-
mines the public health message that all people are 
responsible for practicing behaviors that protect 
themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted 
infections. Unfortunately, some State laws create an 
expectation of disclosure work against public health 
communication and discourage risk-reduction meas-
ures that could prevent transmission as a result of 
those who are acutely infected and unaware of their 
status. 
(10) The identity of an individual subject to an 
HIV-based prosecution is broadcast through media 
reports, potentially destroying employment opportu-
nities and relationships and violating the person’s 
right to privacy. 
(11) Individuals who are convicted after an 
HIV-based prosecution often must register as sex of-
fenders even in cases involving consensual sexual ac-
tivity. Their employability is destroyed, and their 
family relationships are fractured. 
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(12) The United Nations, including the Joint 
United 
Nations 
Programme 
on 
HIV/AIDS 
(UNAIDS), urges governments to ‘‘limit criminaliza-
tion to cases of intentional transmission.’’ This re-
quirement would limit prosecutions to situations 
‘‘where a person knows his or her HIV-positive sta-
tus, acts with the intention to transmit HIV, and 
does in fact transmit it’’. UNAIDS also recommends 
that criminal law should not be applied to cases 
where there is no significant risk of transmission. 
(13) In 2010, the Federal Government released 
the first ever National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), 
which addressed HIV-specific criminal laws, stating: 
‘‘While we understand the intent behind these laws, 
they may not have the desired effect and they may 
make people less willing to disclose their status by 
making people feel at even greater risk of discrimi-
nation. In some cases, it may be appropriate for leg-
islators to reconsider whether existing laws continue 
to further the public interest and public health. In 
many instances, the continued existence and enforce-
ment of these types of laws run counter to scientific 
evidence about routes of HIV transmission and may 
undermine the public health goals of promoting HIV 
screening and treatment.’’. The NHAS also states 
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that State legislatures should consider reviewing 
HIV-specific criminal statutes to ensure that they 
are consistent with current knowledge of HIV trans-
mission and support public health approaches to pre-
venting and treating HIV. 
(14) The Global Commission on HIV and the 
Law was launched in June 2010 to examine laws 
and practices that criminalize people living with and 
vulnerable to HIV and to develop evidence-based rec-
ommendations for effective HIV responses. The 
Commission calls for ‘‘governments, civil society and 
international bodies to repeal punitive laws and 
enact laws that facilitate and enable effective re-
sponses to HIV prevention, care and treatment serv-
ices for all who need them’’. The Commission rec-
ommends against the enactment of ‘‘laws that ex-
plicitly criminalize HIV transmission, exposure or 
non-disclosure of HIV status, which are counter-
productive’’. 
(15) In February 2019, the Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) launched ‘‘End-
ing the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America,’’ a new 
initiative with an ambitious goal to end the domestic 
HIV epidemic in ten years by reducing new cases of 
HIV by 75 percent by 2025 and by 90 percent by 
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2030. In this plan, HHS notes that stigma ‘‘can be 
a debilitating barrier preventing people living with, 
or at risk for, HIV from receiving the health care, 
services, and respect they need and deserve.’’ Many 
of the States and jurisdictions identified as a pri-
ority for the first five years of the plan have stigma- 
based criminal statutes for perceived exposure to 
HIV. These statutes run counter to the goals of this 
new initiative and stand in the way of ending the do-
mestic HIV epidemic. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LAWS OR REGU-
LATIONS DIRECTED AT PEOPLE LIVING WITH 
HIV. 
It is the sense of Congress that Federal and State 
laws, policies, and regulations regarding people living with 
HIV— 
(1) should not place unique or additional bur-
dens on such individuals solely as a result of their 
HIV status; and 
(2) should instead demonstrate a public health- 
oriented, evidence-based, medically accurate, and 
contemporary understanding of— 
(A) the multiple factors that lead to HIV 
transmission; 
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(B) the relative risk of demonstrated HIV 
transmission routes; 
(C) the current health implications of liv-
ing with HIV; 
(D) the associated benefits of treatment 
and support services for people living with HIV; 
and 
(E) the impact of punitive HIV-specific 
laws, policies, regulations, and judicial prece-
dents and decisions on public health, on people 
living with or affected by HIV, and on their 
families and communities. 
SEC. 4. REVIEW OF FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS. 
(a) REVIEW OF FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, and the Secretary of Defense acting jointly (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘designated officials’’) 
shall initiate a national review of Federal and State 
laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents 
and decisions regarding criminal and related civil 
commitment cases involving people living with HIV/ 
AIDS, including in regard to the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice (UCMJ). 
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(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the re-
view under paragraph (1), the designated officials 
shall seek to include diverse participation from, and 
consultation with, each of the following: 
(A) Each State. 
(B) State attorneys general (or their rep-
resentatives). 
(C) State public health officials (or their 
representatives). 
(D) State judicial and court system offi-
cers, including judges, district attorneys, pros-
ecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, 
and correctional officers. 
(E) Members of the United States Armed 
Forces, including members of other Federal 
services subject to the UCMJ. 
(F) People living with HIV/AIDS, particu-
larly those who have been subject to HIV-re-
lated prosecution or who are from minority 
communities whose members have been dis-
proportionately subject to HIV-specific arrests 
and prosecution. 
(G) Legal advocacy and HIV/AIDS service 
organizations that work with people living with 
HIV/AIDS. 
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(H) Nongovernmental health organizations 
that work on behalf of people living with HIV/ 
AIDS, including syringe services programs, 
LGBTQ-focused health organizations, and orga-
nizations who serve people who engage in sex 
work. 
(I) Trade organizations or associations 
representing persons or entities described in 
subparagraphs (A) through (G). 
(3) RELATION
TO
OTHER
REVIEWS.—In car-
rying out the review under paragraph (1), the des-
ignated officials may utilize other existing reviews of 
criminal and related civil commitment cases involv-
ing people living with HIV, including any such re-
view conducted by any Federal or State agency or 
any public health, legal advocacy, or trade organiza-
tion or association if the designated officials deter-
mines that such reviews were conducted in accord-
ance with the principles set forth in section 3. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after initi-
ating the review required by subsection (a), the Attorney 
General shall transmit to the Congress and make publicly 
available a report containing the results of the review, 
which includes the following: 
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(1) For each State and for the UCMJ, a sum-
mary of the relevant laws, policies, regulations, and 
judicial precedents and decisions regarding criminal 
cases involving people living with HIV, including the 
following: 
(A) A determination of whether such laws, 
policies, regulations, and judicial precedents 
and decisions place any unique or additional 
burdens upon people living with HIV. 
(B) A determination of whether such laws, 
policies, regulations, and judicial precedents 
and decisions demonstrate a public health-ori-
ented, evidence-based, medically accurate, and 
contemporary understanding of— 
(i) the multiple factors that lead to 
HIV transmission; 
(ii) the relative risk of HIV trans-
mission routes, including that a person 
that has an undetectable viral load cannot 
transmit the disease; 
(iii) the current health implications of 
living 
with 
HIV, 
including 
data 
disaggregated by race and ethnicity; 
(iv) the current status of providing 
protection to people who engage in survival 
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sex work against whom condom possession 
has been used as evidence to intent to com-
mit a crime; 
(v) States that have the classification 
of mandatory sex offenders; 
(vi) the associated benefits of treat-
ment and support services for people living 
with HIV; and 
(vii) the impact of punitive HIV-spe-
cific laws and policies on public health, on 
people living with or affected by HIV, and 
on their families and communities, includ-
ing people who are in abusive, dependent, 
violent, and non-consensual relationships 
and are unable to both negotiate the use of 
condoms and status disclosure. 
(C) An analysis of the public health and 
legal implications of such laws, policies, regula-
tions, and judicial precedents and decisions, in-
cluding an analysis of the consequences of hav-
ing a similar penal scheme applied to com-
parable situations involving other communicable 
diseases. 
(D) An analysis of the proportionality of 
punishments imposed under HIV-specific laws, 
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policies, regulations, and judicial precedents, 
taking into consideration penalties attached to 
violation of State laws against similar degrees 
of endangerment or harm, such as driving while 
intoxicated (DWI) or transmission of other 
communicable diseases, or more serious harms, 
such as vehicular manslaughter offenses. 
(2) An analysis of common elements shared be-
tween State laws, policies, regulations, and judicial 
precedents. 
(3) A set of best practice recommendations di-
rected to State governments, including State attor-
neys general, public health officials, and judicial offi-
cers, in order to ensure that laws, policies, regula-
tions, and judicial precedents regarding people living 
with HIV are in accordance with the principles set 
forth in section 3. 
(4) Recommendations for adjustments to the 
UCMJ, including discontinuing the use of a service 
member’s HIV diagnosis as the basis for prosecu-
tion, enhanced penalties, or discharge from military 
service, in order to ensure that laws, policies, regula-
tions, and judicial precedents regarding people living 
with HIV are in accordance with the principles set 
forth in section 3. Such recommendations should in-
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clude any necessary and appropriate changes to ‘‘Or-
ders to Follow Preventative Medicine Require-
ments’’. 
(c) GUIDANCE.—Within 90 days of the release of the 
report required by subsection (b), the Attorney General 
and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
jointly, shall develop and publicly release updated guid-
ance for States based on the set of best practice rec-
ommendations required by subsection (b)(3) in order to 
assist States dealing with criminal and related civil com-
mitment cases regarding people living with HIV. 
(d) MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM.—With-
in 60 days of the release of the guidance required by sub-
section (c), the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, acting jointly, shall establish 
an integrated monitoring and evaluation system which in-
cludes, where appropriate, objective and quantifiable per-
formance goals and indicators to measure progress toward 
statewide implementation in each State of the best prac-
tice recommendations required in subsection (b)(3). 
(e) MODERNIZATION OF FEDERAL LAWS, POLICIES, 
AND REGULATIONS.—Within 90 days of the release of the 
report required by subsection (b), the designated officials 
shall develop and transmit to the President and the Con-
gress, and make publicly available, such proposals as may 
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be necessary to implement adjustments to Federal laws, 
policies, or regulations, including to the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice, based on the recommendations required 
by subsection (b)(4), either through Executive order or 
through changes to statutory law. 
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage 
the prosecution of individuals who intentionally transmit 
or attempt to transmit HIV to another individual. 
SEC. 6. NO ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED. 
This Act shall not be construed to increase the 
amount of appropriations that are authorized to be appro-
priated for any fiscal year. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) HIV AND HIV/AIDS.—The terms ‘‘HIV’’ and 
‘‘HIV/AIDS’’ have the meanings given to them in 
section 2689 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300ff–88). 
(2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 
District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, 
Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. 
Æ 
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