HR 94 — A Resolution designating February 28, 2025, as "HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day" in Pennsylvania.

PRINTER'S NO.   812

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



              HOUSE RESOLUTION
                 No. 94
                                                 Session of
                                                   2025

     INTRODUCED BY WAXMAN, MAYES, MADDEN, GIRAL, CERRATO, BURGOS,
        HOHENSTEIN, VENKAT, SANCHEZ AND MALAGARI, MARCH 3, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, MARCH 3, 2025


                                  A RESOLUTION
 1   Designating February 28, 2025, as "HIV is Not a Crime Awareness
 2      Day" in Pennsylvania.
 3         WHEREAS, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a chronic
 4   illness that can be effectively managed with antiretroviral
 5   therapy, and the science around HIV treatment and prevention has
 6   progressed significantly in the four decades since the early
 7   days of the epidemic; and
 8         WHEREAS, We now possess effective mechanisms to prevent the
 9   transmission of HIV, including barrier protection, such as
10   condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis;
11   and
12         WHEREAS, It has been recognized by national and international
13   public health authorities that HIV treatment is also HIV
14   prevention, since individuals living with HIV who are receiving
15   antiretroviral therapy and have an undetectable viral load,
16   which is less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood,
17   cannot transmit HIV through sexual contact; and
18         WHEREAS, Pennsylvanians living with HIV have been charged
 1   with crimes for conduct that would not be criminal or would be
 2   less severe but for their HIV status, a phenomenon known as HIV
 3   criminalization; and
 4      WHEREAS, Pennsylvanians living with HIV may fear prosecution
 5   or be threatened with prosecution, especially in cases of
 6   intimate partner abuse; and
 7      WHEREAS, HIV criminalization increases stigma against
 8   individuals living with HIV and, according to the United States
 9   Department of Health and Human Services 2019 Plan for Ending the
10   HIV Epidemic, stigma "can be a debilitating barrier preventing
11   people living with, or at risk for, HIV from receiving the
12   health care, services, and respect they need and deserve"; and
13      WHEREAS, HIV criminalization laws have been
14   disproportionately used to prosecute people of color, women, sex
15   workers, the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups; and
16      WHEREAS, Misperceptions about HIV transmission, treatment and
17   prevention, as well as HIV criminalization and its impact on
18   individuals living with HIV are common; and
19      WHEREAS, It is vitally important for all elected officials in
20   this Commonwealth to consider updating or repealing outdated
21   laws and practices regarding HIV criminalization and to
22   encourage every Pennsylvanian to educate themselves about HIV
23   and HIV criminalization; therefore be it
24      RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
25   February 28, 2025, as "HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day" in
26   Pennsylvania.




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