Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would allow health care agencies to distribute condoms and other forms of protection in California prisons (Earthtimes.org/AIDS Healthcare Foundation, 10/15).
“We are disappointed that Governor Schwarzenegger chose to veto AB 1334, a bill that would have helped reduce the spread of HIV and other STDs among California inmates and their post-incarceration partners,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which cosponsored the bill.
The governor’s office announced plans instead to create a smaller pilot condom-distribution program, but activists feel that this decision could cause infections that could be prevented with the condom bill. “We cannot waste precious time creating pilot programs to prove the effectiveness of public health measures that have been effective for a quarter of a century,” Weinstein said.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
