HRC Launches National Action Campaign on HIV Travel Ban
July 2, 2009
The Human Rights Campaign has launched a national action campaign encouraging the public to submit comments on why the draconian ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants should be lifted. Our action alert follows:
It's one of the ugliest remnants of discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS – hurtful, obsolete, and wrong. A decades-old policy BANS nearly every foreign person with HIV from setting foot on U.S. soil. But that could change very soon. President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services has finally proposed ending the ban. Starting today, the public has 45 days to weigh in. And the right wing certainly will. We need to show broad support for ending this discriminatory policy. We shouldn't punish people for being HIV-positive! Help the Obama administration follow through and end the ban. This draconian ban tears apart families, denies American businesses access to talented workers, and bars tourists from supporting our economy. It bans students and researchers. It's the reason why the U.S. hasn't hosted a global AIDS conference since 1990. And it is just downright pointless. Leading doctors have opposed this policy for decades because it has no benefit for public health. In fact, the U.S. is one of only a handful of countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan that maintains such harsh policies. It's time we got with the program. Congress finally repealed the law a year ago, but only HHS can actually remove HIV/AIDS from the list of diseases with travel restrictions. The Obama administration has proposed the necessary change, but they need our help to get it across the finish line. Take action now! Help end the ban, once and for all. Thank you for taking action. This hurtful policy has harmed HIV-positive people for far too long, and with your help, we'll end it.
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