I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1843 
To modernize laws, and eliminate discrimination, with respect to people living 
with HIV/AIDS, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2013 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the 
following 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 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 
Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act 
of 2013’’. 
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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 actual transmission of 
HIV to another. Thirteen States have HIV-specific 
laws that make spitting or biting a felony, even 
though it is not possible to transmit HIV via saliva. 
(2) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention (CDC), HIV is only transmitted 
through blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and breast milk. 
(3) Prosecutions for perceived exposure, non-
disclosure, or unintentional transmission of HIV 
have occurred in at least 39 States under general or 
HIV-specific laws. 
(4) Even in the absence of HIV transmission, 
people living with HIV have been given sentences of 
up to 35 years based on exaggerated fears of HIV, 
regardless of actual risk of transmission. 
(5) State and Federal criminal law does not 
currently reflect the three decades of medical ad-
vances and discoveries made with regard to trans-
mission and treatment of HIV. 
(6) According to CDC, correct and consistent 
male or female condom use is very effective in pre-
venting HIV transmission. However, most State 
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HIV-specific laws and prosecutions do not treat the 
use of a condom during sexual intercourse as a miti-
gating factor or evidence that the defendant did not 
intend to transmit HIV. 
(7) Criminal laws and prosecutions do not take 
into account the benefits of effective antiretroviral 
medications, which reduce the HIV virus to 
undetectable levels and further reduce the already 
low risk of transmitting the HIV to near-zero. 
(8) Although HIV/AIDS currently is viewed as 
a treatable, chronic, medical condition, people living 
with HIV have been charged under aggravated as-
sault, attempted murder, and even bioterrorism stat-
utes because prosecutors, courts, and legislators con-
tinue to view and characterize the blood, semen, and 
saliva of people living with HIV as a ‘‘deadly weap-
on’’. 
(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 
these laws reduce the willingness to get tested. Fur-
thermore, placing legal responsibility for preventing 
the transmission of HIV and other pathogens exclu-
sively on people diagnosed with HIV, and without 
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