Legislators Ready 20-Bill Package to Fight AIDS

Two Southern California senators announced plans Friday to introduce a package of 20 bills designed to halt the spread of AIDS through education, testing of infants and expanded treatment of intravenous drug users.

The measures are among dozens of bills that legislators plan to introduce in 1988 as they search during this election year for ways to deal with AIDS.

At a joint press conference, Democratic Sen. Gary K. Hart of Santa Barbara, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on AIDS, and Republican Sen. John Seymour of Anaheim outlined the AIDS package carried by seven senators that they hope will win bipartisan support.

One bill by Hart would revive his proposal of last year that would have required school districts to provide AIDS prevention education to junior and senior high school students. The measure was vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian.

AIDS Education Plan

This year, Hart said, he is seeking to make the bill more acceptable to the governor by allowing each school district to design its own AIDS education program. As before, parents would have an opportunity to preview any AIDS instruction and prevent their children from attending.

“Public education, particularly for our young people, is our most important priority,” Hart said.

Another bill, this one carried by Seymour, would allow medical authorities to test infants for exposure to the AIDS virus without the consent of the parents.

Now, doctors who suspect an infant has contracted AIDS from its mother must get a court order to test the baby if the parents deny permission. Under Seymour’s bill, in cases where there is reason to believe that a newborn has been exposed to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus, such as when the mother is an intravenous drug user, physicians would be able to test the baby without obtaining the parents’ consent or a court order.

Confidentiality Issue

Several other bills in the package would loosen the controversial state law requiring that the results of AIDS tests remain confidential.

One measure by Hart would allow doctors, nurses and other health care workers treating an individual to know that the patient has AIDS.

And a bill by Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) would set up a procedure so that law enforcement officers, prison guards and inmates who have been exposed to the bodily fluids of a potential AIDS carrier can require the individual to be tested for the disease.

Increasingly, Hart and Seymour said, AIDS is being spread in California by intravenous drug users who share their needles. Yet many drug users who seek help in ending their addiction are being turned away from treatment centers because of a lack of resources.

As a result, Seymour said, he will carry legislation seeking to increase state spending for drug treatment centers.

“It seems almost criminal to me that people who want treatment are turned away,” Hart said.

Hart, who has been in the forefront of AIDS legislation, is running for Congress this year against incumbent Robert Lagomarsino (R-Ventura). Seymour is running for reelection to the state Senate.