House Bill 1217 passed on Wednesday in North Dakota’s House. It deals with the criminal charge attributed to knowingly transmitting HIV; the crime would be downgraded from a felony to misdemeanor. Knowingly infecting someone with HIV has been punishable with a felony charge in North Dakota since the 1980s. This is the only disease that holds a felony charge, with other sexually transmittable diseases being misdemeanors. Gretchen Dobervich, a Representative from Fargo, finds this law to be discriminatory against people with HIV, and asserts that “modernizing HIV laws decreases the risk of HIV, as people who are at risk of HIV are more likely to seek testing.” Two civil rights organizations voiced support in the hearing, and there was no opposing testimony. The bill passed 50-43, and will be sent to the Senate for consideration.
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