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Imagine this:

You are HIV positive. About to engage in intercourse. Your partner forgoes a condom. What do you do next?

It seems like one of those “choose your own ending” adventure books. What’s the next step? Where will your choices take you?

However, in real life, your choices in this situation could land you in prison. Legislation regarding the conscious spreading of HIV is being banged into the books only recently. With difficult and unprecedented decisions being passed down in the courts.

The laws vary but many of them are harsh and look something like this:

Unprotected sex + not revealing your HIV status = jail.

It seems logical. Not revealing your HIV status could expose your partner to a life-threatening (or life-shortening) ordeal. So shouldn’t you face consequences for that?

On the other hand, would this legislation discourage people from getting tested in the first place? The arguments on both sides are layered and personal… We asked #teamvoices to sound off…

Paul Medley, USA: When you put another person’s health at risk, there has to be consequences. Although I don’t think the risk of prosecution will actually deter this hypothetical HIV+ person from knowingly infecting others, victims should be allowed to seek justice. If I was a victim of this situation, I’d want the peace of mind in knowing I stopped this person from carelessly infecting others in the future.

Kately Martens, Bulgaria: I think it completely depends on if their partner asked, it’s up to both parties to know each others sexual history. Though I feel they should disclose the information, I don’t think any prosecution should occur unless the person was asked and still neglected to disclose.

Tomek Fior, Poland: anytime you knowingly put someone in danger or harm’s way and harm or danger happens I think you should be able to be held accountable and liable. I mean, if you can sue McDonalds for burning yourself on hot coffee….

James T Tynion, USA: I think any legislation that might be written would have to acknowledge the persons who might unknowingly infect another person before getting tested themselves. But if someone is consciously spreading a life-threatening disease, and they can prove that such a person knew about his/her condition in advance, and still infected other people without telling them about it, I absolutely think criminal action is justified.

Cassie Hoeprich, USA: I believe that if someone is HIV+ and engages in intercourse without using protection or disclosing their status, their partner has the right to prosecute them criminally. I brought this up to my partner, and we went back and forth on the latter point. I initially thought that if someone uses protection and is HIV+, it is more of a moral issue whether or not they share that information with their partner. Yet, my partner countered my point by reminding me that there is no form of protection that is 100% effective. He compared it to shooting someone in the foot – while it is likely that shooting someone in the foot won’t be fatal, complications can always arise. We could easily poke holes in that analogy, but he makes a good point. There is always that 1% chance, and that 1% should matter. It does get more complicated, however, when we think about how someone could prove that they disclosed that information prior to having sex, especially if the partner ends up contracting the disease and wants to move forward with prosecution even if they were fully aware of the risk. Hypotheticals aside, I think having that standard in place may ultimately lead to more open and healthy discussion around sex and STDs. If sexual partners, HIV+ or not, talk about their health status with each other more, even if discussion is initially provoked out of fear of being prosecuted, it will can create a healthier and more open culture surrounding sex.

So, can you prosecute an HIV+ individual who fails to disclose their status? Can you foresee any problems with prosecuting individuals? What would it do in terms of stigma and the likelihood of testing? Sound off and let us know what YOU think!