New York, February 1, 2012 – In the Life Media tonight will air the first documentary to examine the effect that HIV-specific criminal laws, used to imprison people living with HIV who fail to disclose their HIV status before sex, have on women living with the virus. The program, titled Perpetuating Stigma, will air on public television stations across the country throughout February.

New York, January 26, 2012 – The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) released today the first set of standards created to ensure that sexual health care is included in basic medical services for young people in detention and other types of state custody, and that it meets minimum requirements for competent care.

The HIV Health Care Access Working Group (HHCAWG) encourages organizations and individuals to submit comments to HHS on the Essential Health Benefits (EHB) bulletin by January 31, 2012.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that most employers will be required to cover contraception in their health plans with no co-pays or deductibles.

New York, January 13, 2012 — Today in the United States Supreme Court, The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), a national legal resource and strategy center, joined fifteen other national HIV advocacy organizations in a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the ACA.

"These laws are archaic. They're criminalizing a population of people who should not be criminalized," said Representative Barbara Lee, D-CA, in an Associated Press article yesterday. CHLP Executive Director Catherine Hanssens blames the longevity of the laws on "a seemingly invincible ignorance" about HIV transmission. 

This Thursday, December 8, the Stonewall Policy Alliance and NYU Wagner will be hosting an event called "Moving Forward, Getting to Zero: the AIDS Crisis after 30 Years" from 5:00-7:00 PM

by Beirne Roose-Snyder and Catherine Hanssens

On the eve of this year's World AIDS Day, which had a theme of "Getting to Zero: Zero New HIV Infections. Zero Discrimination and Zero AIDS Deaths," we were contacted about the latest sad story of what people with HIV still have to deal with.

Leading HIV organizations in the U.S. sent a letter to President Obama today about the speech he will deliver on World AIDS Day, December 1st.

by Lauren Tetenbaum, JD/LMSW, Teen SENSE Consultant

In August of this year, the New York City government announced a mandate in which schools are required to teach a semester of comprehensive ("abstinence-plus") sexual health education in 6th or 7th grade and again in 9th or 10th grade.
 

The Positive Justice Project will host a panel on HIV criminalization entitled, "When Sex is a Crime and Spit a Dangerous Weapon: Defending Against HIV Criminal Laws" during the upcoming United States Conference on AIDS in Chicago.

On Thursday, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) sent a letter to President Obama calling for a renewed effort to reduce HIV transmission and expand access to care.

by Jodi Jacobson, Editor-in-Chief, RH Reality Check
Originally published at RH Reality Check

An article in yesterday's New York Times by Pam Belluck suggesting that injectable contraceptive use might double the risk of HIV transmission among women and their partners sent a wave of anxiety through the global public health community.

Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, a non-profit organization whose mission is to affirm sexual  freedom as a fundamental human right, released The State of Sexual Freedom in the United States, 2011 Report a few days ago.

by Beirne Roose-Snyder, CHLP Staff Attorney

Last Friday, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced H.R. 3053, the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, which calls for review of all federal and state laws, policies, and regulations regarding the criminal prosecution of individuals for HIV-related offenses. Why is federal legislation an important piece of the decriminalization puzzle when most criminal law is made at the state level?

New York, September 23, 2011 – Members of the Positive Justice Project, a national coalition dedicated to ending the targeting of people with HIV for unreasonable criminal prosecution, voiced their support for the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act that Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced today.

On Friday September 23rd, as part of the 41st Annual Legislative Conference, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) will hold a panel discussion on "HIV Criminalization- Why It Should Matter to You".

by René Bennett-Carlson, Managing Attorney

CHLP's René Bennett-Carlson discusses our exciting new partnership with the Hetrick Martin Institute (HMI).
 

CHLP welcomes new volunteer attorneys, Jeffrey Sallot and Eva LaManna.

Two pieces of good news this week related to CHLP's hard work fighting HIV criminalization. PACHA's first annual letters to President Obama and to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on NHAS priorities now include vital language regarding HIV criminalization, and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee released a draft of legislation planned for introduction later this year that would require a review of all federal and state laws, policies, and regulations regarding the criminal prosecution of individuals for HIV-related offenses. Read more in the Michigan Messenger.