Abdul El-Sayed's Past Calls to Repeal HIV Criminalization Law Highlighted in Senate Race
The Michigan Senate nominee's 2018 stance on a law that made sex without disclosing HIV status a felony is resurfacing as he campaigns against Mike Rogers.
Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed once advocated for the repeal of a Michigan law that criminalized sex without disclosing HIV status, a position he continues to uphold. The law, which dated back to 1988, carried a penalty of up to four years in prison for individuals aware of their HIV-positive status who engaged in sexual penetration without informing their partner.
During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former health director for Wayne County, repeatedly criticized the law. He stated at the time, "You should not be criminalized for a disease. That is absolutely wrong. It’s hateful. It’s discriminatory, and we can, as a state, do better. You can count on me for that."
El-Sayed's campaign website during his 2018 bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination also stated, "Repeal HIV/AIDS criminalization laws and the exclusion of transgender Michiganders from state Medicaid." In response to a question about decriminalizing HIV, he said, "One of the big things that we have to recognize about HIV is that no disease can be illegal. The continuing forward of these laws on the books stigmatize people with the disease."
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who defeated El-Sayed in the 2018 Democratic primary, also supported reforming the law, stating during her campaign that "It’s wrong to criminalize sickness, which is what this law has effectively done. It absolutely should be revisited."
The law was revised in early 2019. The updated statute limited felony provisions to cases involving vaginal and anal intercourse with intent to transmit HIV or actual transmission, reduced certain non-transmission offenses to misdemeanors, and shielded medically suppressed individuals from prosecution under the reckless disregard provision.
"Abdul supports the bipartisan reform bill that passed in 2019 through a Republican legislature that eliminated the discriminatory laws on the books," El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner told Fox News Digital. "As a public health professional, Abdul has fought to support programs that stem the spread of diseases, including HIV."
Richner added that "the Trump administration has completely exacerbated this crisis by defunding the organizations and programs that do frontline care to prevent transmission and exposure in the first place. In the US Senate, Abdul will fight back against Donald Trump and RFK Jr’s attempts to dismantle our public health infrastructure and ensure all Americans have access to the care they need."
El-Sayed is currently in a competitive Senate race against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan, a state crucial for both parties in the midterm elections. He recently received an endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent LGBTQ advocacy group, and has stated that if elected to the Senate, "I’ll fight to ensure every Michigander can live without discrimination and never have to wonder whether their rights will still be there tomorrow."
El-Sayed, who emerged from a closely contested primary, has also made support for "Medicare for all" a central theme of his campaign. He has previously called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has been critical of Israel's actions in Gaza, describing them as "genocide."