Representative Barbara Lee of California and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry are pushing for legislation that will repeal the current travel restrictions on HIV-positive people, the Associated Press reports (ap.google.com, 3/10).

AIDS activists have long considered the HIV travel ban discriminatory, as it is currently the only medical condition included in the Immigration and Nationality Act for Inadmissibility. According to the AP, a bill—supported by U.S. President George W. Bush as part of his President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief—will be voted on by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.

However, a House of Representatives version of the bill does not include language calling for a lift of the travel ban, prompting Lee—with the assistance of Kerry—to introduce stand-alone legislation, which would remove the U.S. from the small number of countries that continues to restrict visiting HIV-positive foreigners.

Related news:
Senate Committee Votes to Remove HIV Travel Ban, March 14, 2008
UNAIDS Task Force Fights HIV Travel Bans, March 6, 2008