North Dakota House votes to repeal 'discriminatory' HIV law

BISMARCK — The criminal charge associated with knowingly infecting someone with HIV could change in North Dakota after lawmakers voted Wednesday, Feb. 19, to downgrade the crime from a felony charge to a misdemeanor.

According to state law, HIV is the only infectious disease that carries a felony charge if it is knowingly transmitted to another person.

Those found guilty of doing so face 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, while knowingly infecting someone with any other sexually transmitted disease is punishable by a fine up to $1,000.

House Bill 1217 would move the penalty for spreading HIV to the same misdemeanor class as other sexually transmitted diseases.

Bill sponsor Gretchen Dobervich, D-Fargo, said in a House Human Services hearing on the bill that the existing law, which was enacted in the 1980s, is discriminatory against people with HIV.

Dobervich added that in 35 years of the law being in effect, no one has been prosecuted.

"There has been a lot of discussion on this bill, and one of the things that keeps coming up is that HIV can be terminal. And it can — so can a lot of other infectious diseases," she said. "This bill reflects the tremendous body of evidence that modernizing HIV laws decreases the risk of HIV, as people who are at risk of HIV are more likely to seek testing."

There was no further discussion on the House floor before lawmakers passed the bill with a 50-43 vote, sending it to the Senate for consideration.

The state Department of Health and Human Services, American Civil Liberties Union and representatives of two health care clinics voiced support for the bill in its hearing. There was no opposing testimony.