Kansas bill calls for HIV positive people to be quarantined

[Juana]

A proposed bill in Kansas is calling for people with HIV or AIDS to be quarantined.

Lawmakers are close to passing a new law discriminating against those who have HIV or AIDS, forcing them to be isolated or have their movements restricted.

Kansas House Bill 2183, which has passed in the Kansas Senate, will update the state's public health statute by allowing quarantine of Kansans with 'infectious diseases.'

Senator Marci Francisco attempted to restore an amendment providing an exclusion for people living with HIV/AIDS, saying the disease is not spread through casual contact and the bill could permit discrimination.

Cody Patton, Executive Director of sexual health charity Positive Directions, said: 'We live in a very conservative state and I'm afraid there are still many people, especially in rural Kansas, that have inadequate education and understanding concerning HIV/AIDS.

'My fear would not be the state uses the law as some way to move all people living with HIV/AIDS into an isolated community, but that this law could allow some county employee to use this law to justify their religious beliefs over their professional responsibilities and discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS.'

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

In 1988, Kansas banned quarantining those with AIDS. If the law is passed, many are fearing health officials will begin intimidating those with HIV or AIDS with the threat they could be isolated from the general population.

Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said by including HIV/AIDS in this updated law, Kansas legislators are harkening back to the 'earliest, darkest days' of the AIDS epidemic.

He said: 'At best, it is short-sighted of Kansas legislators to reject Senator Francisco's amendment. It either shows how little they understand about HIV and how it is transmitted—it is not spread through casual contact such as TB or other airborne communicable diseases—or it shows that they want the ability to quarantine people, and/or discriminate against them in other ways as they see fit.

'For the Senators, either choice shows a real lack of understanding about public health and safety—one of the most basic services that is government's role to ensure.'

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are currently working to get this law passed, meaning it will likely be voted on and passed in the next few weeks.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Ah, the national right-wing temper tantrum goes on.

[McGrupp]

The worst part is that this should have been settled in about 5 minutes.

"Hey you realize this could lead to quarantining HIV positive people, right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry we copied part of this bill from a different bill involving blood draws and first responders. It didn't occur to us"

"That's ok. Lets just change that part and remove the HIV AIDS bit and then sign the bill."

"No problem, there. Now we can move on to other important government issues."

......Also in my fantasy I own a yacht and a mansion. And I fight crime with Batman on the weekends.

[Cain]

The newspapers in the UK used to agitate for measures like this.  In the late 1980s.  I believe Alan Moore cited this as one of the inspirations for V for Vendetta.

Admittedly the dystopian fascist future certainly seems more classy in London than it does in Kansas.  British accents > Kansan accents, better scenery etc.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Cody Patton, Executive Director of sexual health charity Positive Directions, said: 'We live in a very conservative state and I'm afraid there are still many people, especially in rural Kansas, that have inadequate education and understanding concerning HIV/AIDS.

Translation: People in this state are fucking stupid. This law will facilitate that stupidity.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The newspapers in the UK used to agitate for measures like this.  In the late 1980s.  I believe Alan Moore cited this as one of the inspirations for V for Vendetta.

Admittedly the dystopian fascist future certainly seems more classy in London than it does in Kansas.  British accents > Kansan accents, better scenery etc.

Yeah, Thatcher wanted to round up all the AIDS patients, IIRC.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

What in the hell does this sentence even mean?

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

What in the hell does this sentence even mean?

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

Gibberish.

[McGrupp]

What in the hell does this sentence even mean?

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

I think the idea here is that if a paramedic arrives at the scene of an accident and gets blood all over them they can test the patient's blood for diseases without their consent (in the case that the patient is unconcious and cannot consent)

At the lab I work at doctor's sometimes accidentally poke themselves with their emg needles during a patient study. The standard procedure then is to ask the patient if we can test their blood. The patient can opt out or sign a whole bunch of forms and both doctor and patient go up and get a blooddraw so they can see if either have any infectious diseases to worry about. Then patient services makes me fill out forms. Lots and lots of forms.

I'm thinking that the intent was to give paramedics and first responders a way to find out if they had been infected without a court order or waiting for the patient to regain consiousness for consent. Of course that's giving Kansas lawmakers a huge benefit of the doubt.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

It still looks like gibberish intended to kinda-sorta LOOK like it's for the safety of the EMT's, but it's not.

[Junkenstein]

What in the hell does this sentence even mean?

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

I think the missing important word was tested, Mcgrupp seems on the money.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

What in the hell does this sentence even mean?

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

I think the missing important word was tested, Mcgrupp seems on the money.

Adding the word "tested" does kind of make it make sense. However, the "who" in there still breaks it:

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood tested for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

This part:

The law was originally intended to remove the need for a firefighter or a paramedic who...

sounds like what is being removed is the need for a fire fighter or paramedic.

This part:

...would have to get the necessary court order to get a victim's blood...

right, a court order to "get the victim's blood", I'm following OK here...

...for infectious diseases if they had become exposed to it.

It just fell apart again. "Had become exposed to it"? "Get a victim's blood for infectious diseases"?

Altogether the sentence is just completely broken and nonsensical. It fails every possible test of intelligibility. Even punctuation doesn't help it. It's a complete nightmare abortion of a sentence. Someone presumably got paid for writing that, and their editor, who is also getting paid, didn't even notice.

[Junkenstein]

Oh not arguing there. I have to read/write a LOT of shit for work and one of the few things I hate more than a lazy writer is a lazy editor.