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Senate Targets Ban on HIV- Positive Visitors

$50B AIDS bill, nearing vote, could dismantle 20-year prohibition

By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 16, 2008 4:31 PM CDT

(Newser) – The Senate moved today to repeal a ban on allowing immigrants and vistors who are HIV-positive to enter the country, the AP reports. The measure was part of a $50 billion bill to combat AIDS worldwide. The US is one of only a dozen countries—including Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Libya—that forbids the entry of visitors with AIDS.

The US implemented the ban on HIV-positive immigrants and travelers in 1987, and Congress confirmed it in 1993. Democrat John Kerry and Republican Gordon Smith are spearheading the repeal. "There's no excuse for a law that stigmatizes a particular disease," Kerry said.

In this image released by Music World Music/Columbia, singer Kelly Rowland is tested for the HIV at  Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi on June 19, 2008.
In this image released by Music World Music/Columbia, singer Kelly Rowland is tested for the HIV at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi on June 19, 2008.   (AP Photo)
A developer solution vial, left, and test device, right, are seen for an oral fluid rapid HIV test at one of the facilities of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx borough of New York.
A developer solution vial, left, and test device, right, are seen for an oral fluid rapid HIV test at one of the facilities of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx borough of New York.   (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., delivers a speech to delegates at the Democratic State Convention, in Lowell, Mass. Saturday, June 7, 2008.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., delivers a speech to delegates at the Democratic State Convention, in Lowell, Mass. Saturday, June 7, 2008.   (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
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