Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - 26 Jul 95
By a voice vote, senators approved an amendment to the Ryan White CARE Act requiring the 11 states with the highest incidence of HIV infection in newborns to implement a program for encouraging all pregnant women to be tested for the virus.
It would not make testing mandatory, though Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., chairwoman of the committee with jurisdiction over the program, acknowledged she would have preferred mandatory testing.
House action on similar legislation renewing the 1990 law for another five years has been stalled while a compromise is negotiated on mandatory AIDS testing of all newborns.
"Testing newborn infants is the wrong approach.... We should test the mother first, at the beginning of the process," said Kassebaum, R-Kansas.
She cited recent studies showing that an infected mother taking the drug AZT during pregnancy can reduce the chances of infecting her baby by two-thirds.
In making counseling mandatory but testing voluntary for pregnant women, Kassebaum said she was conceding to objections raised by the National Governors Association that mandatory testing would be another large program required -- but not funded -- by the federal government.
Some civil liberties groups also object to mandatory testing, saying it is an invasion of privacy.
Infants in Massachusetts, California, Texas, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Georgia and Illinois account for 80 percent of the estimated 2,000 HIV-positive babies born each year.
Several other amendments and a final vote on the Senate reauthorization were scheduled for Thursday morning.
The 1990 law established a massive program of primary care and support services for people with AIDS. It was named for a hemophiliac teen-ager who died after contracting AIDS through a blood transfusion.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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