Progress report on lifting HIV travel ban

The new rule will pop up on the federal register this afternoon, initiating a 45 day mandatory public comment period. There's then another round of review from OMB and the CDC. Then, after it's published in final form in the federal register, there's an effective date of somewhere between 30 and 60 days for the ban to cease operation. That leaves us somewhere in the fall before the Jesse Helms anachronism finally ends its 22-year stigmatization and persecution of people of HIV.

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And it's worth recalling that the Bush administration also supported this change; and it was passed by huge majorities in both House and Senate; and was pioneered in part by Republican senators Smith and Lugar, as well as Kerry and Kennedy. Obama is carrying a bipartisan measure to fruition. For some of us, it means more than we can possibly express.

Immigration Equality noted that it is urging HHS to quickly adopt and implement the regulations and officially end the ban once and for all. The organization worked closely with Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and former Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) in 2008 to repeal the ban. Today, the lawmakers joined the organization in praising the new regulations.

“Today we are one step closer to ending a discriminatory practice that stigmatizes those living with HIV, squanders our moral authority, and sets us back in the fight against AIDS,” said Senator Kerry. “By proposing this rule, the Obama administration has made a powerful statement in favor of overturning the HIV travel and immigration ban that has no foundation in public health or common sense. There is no reason for this policy to remain on the books. I sincerely hope we can continue to work in a bipartisan manner with the help of the public health, religious, LGBT, and immigration groups to make this proposed rule final as soon as possible.”