Attack on ‘Safe Sex’ Rules Stirs AIDS Debate

The Senate, caught up in an emotional debate over the government’s role in combatting AIDS, on Thursday approved a controversial proposal barring federal funds from programs that “promote or condone” homosexual behavior in spreading information about the deadly virus.

The proposal, one of several amendments tacked onto a bill funding AIDS research and education, was approved on a 77-23 vote. The Senate approved the overall legislation to provide $1.1 billion for that purpose on a 87-4 vote.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate approved amendments calling for mandatory AIDS testing for all people convicted of drug- and sex-related crimes and banned programs giving clean needles to drug addicts to combat the spread of AIDS without the approval of the surgeon general.

It also backed a provision barring states from accepting federal AIDS funds if they pass laws that prevent physicians of patients who test positive for the virus from notifying spouses without the patient’s explicit permission.

Senators clashed angrily over these proposals during a debate that focused on the federal government’s responsibilities to combat the AIDS virus. Most of the battle came over the proposal by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) to withhold funds from programs that “promote or condone” homosexual behavior. The Senate approved an identical provision last year.

Helms said his proposal was designed to “remove any question” that “federal funds are being used to promote sodomy. This senator will not allow one dollar of taxpayer’s money to promote sodomy.”

He referred several times to “safe sex” publications and videotapes that depicted homosexual activities and techniques, saying they “turned my stomach, and they turned the stomachs of other senators who have seen them.”

But critics, like Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Helms’ amendment would bring a halt to badly needed AIDS education programs across the country.

“You insult the intelligence of every member of this chamber to think that this bill would promote such activity,” Kennedy, his voice rising with anger, told Helms. “There will be hundreds of thousands of Americans who will be needlessly exposed to the disease because of this.”

Weicker Blasts Amendment

Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R-Conn.) also blasted Helms’ amendment, turning to him and shouting: “Why are you doing this? We’re trying to establish a national AIDS policy, and this will stay the hand of any action. This will put the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) into a spin.”

Earlier, Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) charged that last year’s version of the Helms amendment had been holding up allocation of federal funds for AIDS education. He said his vote for the measure had been a mistake and urged his colleagues to reject the plan this year.

But Helms, saying his amendment would enjoy “broad support from the American people,” challenged Cranston’s contention. He produced a letter to that effect from Dr. James Mason, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, which directs much of the nation’s AIDS research effort.

In a March 23 letter, Helms said, Mason asserted that more than $100 million in education funds for AIDS were available. Mason also said that 64 applications for information programs had been approved and that funds for them would be released beginning Saturday, Helms added.

To counteract the impact of the Helms proposal, Kennedy later won passage of an amendment that said the government would not restrict the ability of any AIDS education program to “provide accurate information” about reducing the risk of AIDS infection. A vote to defeat his proposal was defeated, 62 to 29.

Provides ‘Battle Plan’

The Senate spent most of its time debating the amendments that Helms and others offered, paying little attention to the $1.1-billion bill for AIDS education and research. Kennedy and other sponsors said the bill would provide a badly needed “national battle plan” to combat the virus, which is believed to have infected more than 1.5 million Americans.

“This bill is about leadership, not about money,” Kennedy said. He noted that the bill would provide funds for home care treatment facilities for AIDS patients, accelerated approval of research grants and expanded education programs.

The legislation would also hire more employees for the CDC and National Institute of Health and create special programs to train health workers how to better deal with AIDS patients.