State lawmakers vote to decriminalize HIV in North Dakota
BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — It took years of effort, but one new bill that passed the senate on Thursday will head to Governor Kelly Armstrong’s desk.
House Bill 1217 removes the criminal penalty for people living with HIV in North Dakota. For years under North Dakota law, people could be charged with a felony if they knowingly gave someone else HIV.
Fargo democrat Gretchen Dobervich spent the last three legislative sessions trying to get the bill passed.
“Because the only way we can stop the spread of any infectious disease is by testing and treatment,” Rep. Dobervich said. “This bill has not stopped any transmission of any infectious disease at all. In fact, no one has ever been charged with this bill in the 30 plus years that it’s been on the books.”
Spokespeople with North Dakota’s health and human services department supported the bill, arguing that people who live with HIV can now receive anti-retroviral therapy or ART, where they can become undetectable for the virus and cannot give the virus to someone else sexually.
