Activists Assail AMA Policies on AIDS

Activists gathered outside an American Medical Assn. meeting in Philadelphia to protest policies and proposed legislation that they say verge on the quarantining of people with AIDS. ACT UP and Us Women supporters demonstrated against the AMA’s endorsement of mandatory HIV testing for all pregnant women and its decision to back the HIV Prevention Bill. Sponsored by Rep. Tom A. Coburn (R-Okla.), the bill would create an HIV-positive national registry and require HIV-positive people to identify their sexual partners, so they could be notified. “The Coburn bill is the closest thing we’ve seen to quarantining people with AIDS,” Jennifer DePiero of ACT UP said.