The AIDS Legal Council of Chicago Oppose HB 4306 Mandatory HIV testing of Newborn Babies

The AIDS Legal Council of Chicago Oppose HB 4306 Mandatory HIV testing of Newborn Babies

HB 4306 is unnecessary and may make the lives of some women and babies worse

WE DON’T NEED HB 4306! The 2003 Perinatal HIV Prevention Act makes Illinois one of the
nation’s leaders in perinatal HIV prevention

We already have routine testing in Illinois. The Perinatal HIV Prevention Act already mandates Counseling and voluntary testing of pregnant women during pre-natal care and during labor and delivery; Routine HIV testing of a newborn infant if the mother’s HIV status is not known.

And it’s working!
• Illinois has seen an increase of 20% in the number of pregnant women getting counseling and HIV testing -- for a total of 98% of all pregnant women in the state!
• Mandatory Testing will not test more mothers and infants. In New York, the only state in the union to have mandatory testing of newborns, 900 infants a year miss being tested.

HB 4306 WILL EXPOSE SOME WOMEN AND BABIES TO HARM!
Although 98% of women will chose voluntary testing, the 2% who refuse HIV testing may have valid reasons to do so because HIV stigma and discrimination are real.

Mandatory testing may put some women and children in harm’s way. Research has shown that up to 20% of women report acts of violence against them when their partners learn of their HIV status. Any father will have access to the newborn’s records and thus the mother’s status. Our experience tells us that supportive resources such as housing are frequently withdrawn by family members when they discover their sister, child, grandchild, niece, aunt or girlfriend, is HIV+.

The results of newborn rapid HIV tests may be wrong as often 50% of the time, resulting in increased violence and discrimination against HIV negative, as well as HIV positive, women.
Rapid HIV tests are only screening tests. In populations with low incidences of HIV (including rural and southern Illinois), half the women who test positive on a rapid test may be HIV negative.

An HIV diagnosis may trigger post-partum depression.
HIV diagnosis is often overwhelming for patients. Research shows that co-occurrence of depression and HIV among women occurs up to 50%. If women are not ready to learn their status, the moment of childbirth maybe the worst moment to put them at risk for depression and could result in less optimal care for the infant. Depression also has a high correlation with mortality in HIV/AIDS patients.

EFFECTIVE HIV CARE FOR MOTHERS AND NEWBORNS REQUIRES THAT MOTHERS AND HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WORK TOGETHER IN PARTNERSHIP.
Mandatory testing may decrease women’s participation in health care. Forcing doctors to test regardless of the patients’ wishes or risks is a recipe for bad health care.

The AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, founded in 1987, is the only agency in Illinois devoted solely to
protecting the legal rights of people with HIV. For information, contact Ann Fisher at 312-427-8990.