CHLP makes every effort to ensure that this information is correct and current, but the law is regularly changing, and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided. This information is not, and should not be relied upon, as a substitute for legal advice.
HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S.
Maryland has an HIV-specific offense:
An exposure or transmission offense imposes criminal penalties on PLHIV for engaging in behaviors that purportedly create the possibility of HIV transmission, or for transmitting HIV from one person to another.
Whether or not a state has an HIV-specific law, in Maryland and most other states, general criminal laws can also be used to charge or enhance penalties against people living with HIV.
In 2025, Maryland became the fifth state to repeal its HIV criminalization laws. For more, see Maryland Repeals HIV Criminalization Law.
For more information, see Maryland: Analysis & Codes, an excerpt from CHLP’s HIV Criminalization in the United States: A Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice. This resource outlines punitive laws, policies, and cases affecting people living with HIV and other communicable diseases.
For maps depicting each state's HIV-specific offenses and penalty enhancements and a user guide that explains relevant definitions, see CHLP's Mapping HIV Criminalization Laws in the U.S. and User Guide. This resource uses a novel HIV specificity scale to identify laws that target people living with HIV and other stigmatized health conditions.
State Guidelines on Health Care Workers with HIV
We currently are in the process of reviewing and updating our resources and summaries related to health care workers and disclosure. In the meantime, please do not rely on this information as current, and get in touch with CHLP with any questions.
“Health care provider” means a person who is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized under the Health Occupations Article to provide health or medical care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession, or in an approved education or training program.
All HCWs must follow universal precautions—no further regulations exist.
Minors' Access to STI and HIV Testing and Treatment
These summaries highlight key aspects of state laws governing the rights of minors to consent to testing and/or treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV. Any such summary cannot capture the details and nuances of individuals state laws. Although roughly a third of the states permit health care providers to inform a minor's parents that their child is seeking STI-related services, none require it. Also, the law is fluid, and these summaries may not reflect recent legislative change in a particular state.
Every state in the country allows minors to consent to STI testing and care without parental approval, although a number of these set an age threshold for the right to consent without parental involvement. In these states, the minimum age ranges from 12 to 14 years of age.
As of the date of this posting, thirty-one states allow minors to also consent to HIV testing and treatment without parental approval.
HIV Testing
Unlike testing for most other infectious diseases, testing for HIV involves possible benefits as well as social, economic, and legal consequences that typically are not apparent or known to an individual considering testing. HIV-related testing is the gateway to health-preserving treatment; it also can be the basis of criminal prosecution for those who are sexually active, or relied on to exclude individuals who test positive for HIV from programs, employment, or insurance. Although state and federal laws prohibit much of this discrimination against people with HIV, the ability to enforce those rights usually depends on access to free legal services, which are increasingly limited and not available at all in roughly half of the states in the United States. Thus, the potential negative consequences of HIV testing at a particular time or location might inform an individual's decision of whether or when to get tested for HIV; or whether to test anonymously or through a "confidential" testing process that reports their test results and identifying information to the state but maintains the confidentiality of those results.
The American Medical Association has long defined informed consent as a process of communication between a patient and physician that results in the patient's authorization or agreement to undergo a specific medical intervention. Although informed consent is a legal concept rather than a medical one, many states use definitions of "informed consent" for purposes of HIV testing and medical procedures that in fact are inconsistent with the accepted legal definition, e.g., they do not require that an individual receive information or sometimes even notification that they are about to be tested for HIV. The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) accepts the legal and court-affirmed definition of informed consent; therefore, state protocols that call for "opt-out" testing (a patient is tested for HIV unless she/he objects) or that mirror general consent approaches are not counted as "informed consent" laws even in those instances where the state legislature has characterized their state law as requiring "informed consent." In short, CHLP does not consider or count laws that allow a patient's silence or general consent as granting authority to do confidential HIV testing as informed consent laws.
Pre-test counseling may be written, oral, or by video.
Post-test counseling is required for HIV positive test results. Post-test counseling is required for HIV positive test results in cases of health care worker exposure.
Anonymous testing is available at designate anonymous testing sites.
Find the laws in a different state.
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Legal Disclaimer: CHLP makes an effort to ensure legal information is correct and current, but the law is regularly changing, and the accuracy of the information provided cannot be guaranteed. The legal information in a given resource may not be applicable to all situations and is not—and should not be relied upon—as a substitute for legal advice.