Let’s Talk About Sex (Work and HIV Criminalization) on Dec 8
Sex workers are disproportionately harmed by laws and penalties that target people based on HIV-positive status. Yet HIV decriminalization efforts have not consistently centered or elevated sex worker leadership. Join the Health Not Prisons (HNP) Collective for a discussion and live Q&A on HIV criminalization laws, their impacts on sex workers, and how the HIV and sex work decriminalization movements can better partner and collaborate.
Register to join us December 8 at 3:30 PM-5 PM EST
Moderated by Tyler Barbarin, Positive Women’s Network, panelists include Ashunte Coleman (LIPS Tampa), Lynly Egyes (Transgender Law Center), Chauncey McGlathery (Sero Project), Tiffany Moore (Council of Justice Leaders, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation)
Health Care Access
World AIDS Day
Every year on December 1, we commemorate World AIDS Day. This year’s theme for the U.S. is Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice, meant to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ending the HIV epidemic by uplifting the voices of people living with HIV and their meaningful involvement in the government’s initiatives.
This World AIDS Day, a new National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) was released and PWN is pleased to see progress on issues we and our comrades have been pushing for. These include NHAS acknowledging racism as a key driver of the HIV epidemic, committing to creating a quality of life indicator, naming sex workers and immigrants, and addressing the needs of those aging with HIV. In a statement, PWN continues to push for an NHAS that goes beyond biomedical solutions; an NHAS that meaningfully involves people living with HIV centers human rights, ensures sexual and reproductive health rights, decriminalizes HIV, and places a moratorium on molecular HIV surveillance.
In honor of World AIDS Day, PWN also hosted Rise Up: Women Living with HIV Demand Action, a virtual panel discussion of what women and transgender people living with HIV demand from the federal HIV response, highlighting recommendations from the Demanding Better Policy Agenda.
CVS drops CVS. v. Doe SCOTUS Case
The U.S. Supreme Court was gearing up to hear CVS v. Doe – a case that threatened to gut non-discrimination protections for people with disabilities, including people living with HIV. CVS decided to drop the case, instead, stating it will partner with disability rights groups to work on a policy that will provide “equitable access to healthcare for all Americans.”
This case was brought by five unnamed people living with HIV challenging a new prescription-drug policy implemented by the plaintiff’s employers and pharmacy benefit manager. Under the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit policy, people in need of “specialty drugs” were limited to CVS-only pharmacy pick up or mail delivery which effectively compromised the health and privacy of people living with HIV. Previously, patients could fill their prescriptions at any local drugstore of their choosing, consult with pharmacists there who prepared their medication, and discuss side effects and potential drug interactions. With the new policy in place, people can only pick up their medication at CVS pharmacies, and no longer consult with the pharmacist that prepared their medication. Because medications are sent to CVS pharmacies and not prepared at CVS pharmacies, the CVS pharmacists are not legally able to discuss potential side effects and drug interactions. Additionally, their names would be called along with their medication even with other customers present.
Despite CVS arguing their program was valid because it did not intentionally discriminate against people living with HIV, we know intent cannot be the only basis for discrimination — the impact of bad policy matters as well. If we used intent to judge discrimination, we would be decades behind in disability rights, nondiscrimination law, and policy. While CVS has dropped its appeal, there is currently no change to the policy, with the company stating they will “seek public policy solutions in partnership with the disability community.”
Economic Justice
Biden’s $1.75T Package Passed The House!
House Democrats have finally passed President Biden’s $1.75 trillion social and climate spending package, the Build Back Better bill. The package narrowly passed the House due to disagreements over the price and its contents. Although we previously expressed enthusiasm about the Medicare drug-pricing negotiation provision of the bill, that provision is no longer included in the package since funds were cut so drastically and it was negotiated out.
The current package includes eldercare programs, child care support – including an extension of the child tax credit for one year, an extension of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, expansion of Medicaid coverage, and funds for housing programs. The package now heads to the Senate, where the battle over social safety nets and climate change provisions are expected to continue.
Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice
The Future of Abortion Access in the U.S.
Abortion rights are being threatened throughout the U.S.
On November 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for United States v. Texas, a case challenging the constitutionality of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8), which outlaws abortions after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Texas’ SB8 encourages private individuals to sue abortion providers and anyone who “aids and abets” a person seeking an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy by awarding $10,000 bounties to anyone who brings the case in successful lawsuits. The U.S. Department of Justice and Texas abortion providers urged the Court to block enforcement of the law because it, in part, violates Roe v. Wade – the case establishing a right to abortion. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court took no further action and SB8 still stands, leaving many people seeking abortion care with scarce options.
On December 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court heard Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, a case involving a 2018 Mississippi law that bans all abortions
With Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade if it finds that pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are constitutional. If so, more than 20 states are certain or likely to enact trigger laws banning abortion shortly thereafter. While Mississippi cites medical risks as the rationale for the ban, all medical evidence has shown abortions are an overwhelmingly safe procedure. after 15 weeks except in cases of medical emergencies and severe fetal abnormality but does not make exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. On the day the law took effect, Jackson Women’s Health – the only abortion provider in the state of Mississippi, challenged the law in federal court.
The Court’s decision could mean abortions become even less accessible to communities that are systemically oppressed, such as low-income, Black, and Latinx communities. In this case, banning abortion at 15 weeks is not only unjust but impractical. At 15 weeks, a person may not know they are pregnant or may know they are pregnant but haven’t had enough time to plan, save, and coordinate for an abortion procedure.
With these abortion restrictions or bans, pregnant people who cannot travel to get an abortion may attempt truly unsafe measures to end their pregnancies on their own. We must continue fighting to ensure that abortion isn’t just legal – it’s accessible, affordable, and destigmatized. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision is expected next Summer.
Ending Criminalization
Advocates Challenge the CDC’s Molecular HIV Surveillance Efforts
Molecular HIV surveillance (MHS) is used by the government to collect information that comes from the genomic sequencing data collected without consent from people living with HIV. This data is then used to conduct analysis on patterns of HIV transmission to better understand how HIV is spread in communities. But MHS, which people living with HIV have not consented to, puts people living with HIV in harm’s way. State public health data privacy and accessibility laws vary widely, potentially allowing for an individual’s MHS data to be accessed by law enforcement or immigration enforcement. This is of serious concern for people living with HIV as 30 states continue to criminalize HIV.
PWN, on behalf of the HIV Justice Worldwide Coalition, published Molecular HIV Surveillance: A Global Review of Human Rights Implications, providing an expansive explanation of MHS and the status of rollout and implementation. The briefing paper also highlights community concerns MHS raises for people living with HIV such as concerns over safety and privacy. Recommendations include providing people living with HIV informed consent on how their data will be used, respecting bodily autonomy and integrity of people living with HIV, and advocating against punitive policies aimed at people living with HIV. PWN continues to call for a moratorium on MHS to protect privacy and eradicate HIV criminalization for people living with HIV. Sign on to endorse a moratorium here.
LGBTQ+ Rights, Safety and Justice
ACLU Suing Tennessee over Anti-Trans Sports Bill Passed Earlier This Year
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Tennessee over an anti-trans sports bill passed earlier that bans transgender students from participating in gendered school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. In March 2021, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed Tennessee Senate Bill 228 (SB228) into law, targeting public school students of middle school and high school age, stating participation in athletic programs must be determined by the student’s sex assigned at the time of their birth as indicated on original birth certificates.
Transgender Day of Remembrance/Resilience
Transgender Day of Remembrance, observed annually on November 20, is a day that honors the memory of the lives of transgender people that were lost to acts of anti-transgender violence. 2021 was a record year in the number of anti-trans bills introduced at the state level. This year, more transgender and nonbinary people were killed than in any other year since the Human Rights Campaign started tracking this data in 2013, with 375 murders of trans and gender-diverse people globally and 45 lives lost in the U.S. recorded so far. In honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance/Resilience, PWN released a statement affirming our commitment to our trans and gender non-conforming siblings and our dedication to elevate and center transgender leaders within our communities and across the HIV field. As long as people of trans experience are not safe to live authentically, openly, and with respect and dignity, our work will not be complete.
Ending Violence
PWN’s National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women Living with HIV
October 23 marked the eighth annual National Day of Action to End Violence Against Women Living with HIV. PWN held a virtual event discussing women, HIV, and intimate partner violence hosted by PWN’s Organizing Manager, Crystal Townsend. Intimate partner violence is more prevalent among women living with HIV than HIV-negative women- that includes instances of rape, physical and sexual assault, and stalking. According to PWN, 55% of women living with HIV have experienced intimate partner violence. In addition, women living with HIV are five times more likely to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than the population at large. PWN continues to advocate for all women living with HIV in an effort to end the violence that they are subjected to.
Denying Service and Facing Fines
In Durham, North Carolina, a nail salon was sued for denying a person living with HIV his pedicure treatments. The nail salon argued but was unable to prove that treating a person living with HIV would have posed a direct threat to the health or safety of others. As a result, the nail salon must pay $7,500 in compensatory damages to the customer as part of a settlement, must adopt a post a non-discrimination policy that includes protections for people living with HIV, and all staff will be trained about HIV/AIDS discrimination. We continue to see the need for non-discrimination policies and consistent methods to hold policy violators accountable.