County Holds Off on Mandatory HIV Tests

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to expand voluntary HIV counseling for pregnant women but declined to take a stand on whether HIV tests at county prenatal clinics should be mandatory.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich had proposed the testing plan and had asked for a legal opinion on whether pregnant women at county clinics could be forced to take HIV tests, which indicate the presence of the AIDS virus.

In arguing for the mandatory testing, Antonovich cited recent studies that found that the chances of an HIV-positive mother transmitting the disease to her unborn child are dramatically reduced if she takes the drug AZT in the early stages of pregnancy.

But the board postponed a decision on the forced-testing issue for six months to gather more information on the success of the counseling program, which would offer voluntary testing for HIV.

Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky voiced opposition to forced testing, with Yaroslavsky urging against even asking for a legal opinion.

“I don’t want an official action of the board to indicate we are moving in the direction of forced HIV testing of pregnant women,” he said.

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said the board should have more information about the numbers of HIV-infected babies being born in the county and how many women decline the tests before making a decision.

John F. Schunhoff, director of the county’s AIDS program, told the board that about 70% of women who are offered HIV tests decline to take them. He said statistics show that about 50% of women do not know they are infected with HIV at the time they give birth.