Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed stands by call to change HIV criminalization law

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is standing by his 2018 call to repeal a state law that criminalized certain sexual activity by people who knew they had HIV without disclosing their status.

According to Fox News, El-Sayed advocated repealing HIV criminalization laws while campaigning unsuccessfully for Michigan governor, arguing they stigmatized people living with the disease.

Michigan reformed the law in 2019 with bipartisan support, limiting felony provisions to specified cases involving intent to transmit HIV or actual transmission and reducing some other offences to misdemeanors.

El-Sayed’s campaign said he supports the 2019 reforms and programmes aimed at preventing HIV transmission.

The epidemiologist is currently running against Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat in November’s midterm election.