Court rejects 1st Amendment challenge to HIV assault law

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of a law requiring HIV-infected individuals to tell sexual partners about their status before having sex.

Critics say the law unfairly singles out HIV because of outmoded stigmas against the gay community and doesn’t take into consideration current survival rates for people with HIV.

Opponents also say Ohio’s HIV assault law violates free speech rights because it focuses only on disclosure, not the actual transmission of the disease.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision Thursday disagreed, ruling that the law covers conduct, not speech.

Attorneys challenged the law on behalf of an Ohio man convicted of failing to tell his girlfriend he had HIV after they started having sex.