4 States With Scientifically Unsound Laws Criminalizing HIV

1. Missouri: It is unlawful for any individual knowingly infected with HIV to bite another person. The law also specifically prohibits the use of a condom as a defense in a nondisclosure case.

2. Michigan: It is a felony, with a four-year jail sentence, for those who know they are HIV-positive to engage in “sexual penetration, however slight” without first disclosing that status to a partner. Sexual penetration is defined to include oral, anal, and vaginal intercourse but also includes inserting an “object” into a person’s “genital or oral openings.”
 
3.  Indiana: It is a Class D felony, meaning six months to three years in prison for the crime of “malicious mischief,” placing blood, urine, semen, or feces in a place with the intent a person will “involuntarily touch” the prohibited body fluids, if the accused was infected with HIV.

4. Georgia: It is a felony for an HIV-infected person to commit an assault with the intent to transmit HIV using his or her body fluids (blood, semen, or vaginal secretions), saliva, urine, or feces upon a peace officer or a correctional officer in the course of their duties. Convictions can lead to a sentence of five to more than 20 years in prison.