AEGiS-APPJ: HIV Testing During Pregnancy: The Values of Optimizing Consent

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

HIV Testing During Pregnancy: The Values of Optimizing Consent

AIDS & Public Policy Journal 18, no. 3/4 (Fall/Winter 2003) 77-81
David W. Webber

The issues of patient autonomy and informed decision making are at the center of the debate over appropriate standards for HIV testing during pregnancy. State law standards on this issue vary significantly from state to state. Federal policy pronouncements on this issue also lack consistency. Against this legal and policy background, the two articles in this Special Section of AIDS & Public Policy Journal present a significant lesson for policy makers: patients value their decision making autonomy very highly in regard to HIV testing, and that value can be respected while at the same time achieving high rates of testing. Optimizing consent enhances the provider-patient relationship, a critically important relationship for a pregnant woman with HIV infection. Laws and policies that disfavor patients' consent, such as mandatory newborn testing laws, have little justification and should be rejected by policy makers.
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