Georgia Lawmaker Suggests 'Quarantine' For People With HIV

ATLANTA, GA — Republican Betty Price, the Georgia state representative for the northern Atlanta area and the wife of former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, is facing criticism after comments she made about limiting the spread of HIV throughout Georgia.

The comments came on Tuesday during a committee meeting about health care in the state and how to address barriers to access, according to a Stat News article. Speaking to Dr. Pascale Wortley, head of the HIV epidemiology section of the Georgia Department of Health, Price made some statements that received criticism from the gay community.

“I don’t want to say the quarantine word — but I guess I just said it,” she said, referring to those with HIV.

Citing tax dollars as the source of public interest in preventing HIV, Price, a former anesthesiologist, said, “Is there an ability, since I would guess that public dollars are expended heavily in prophylaxis and treatment of this condition, so we have a public interest in curtailing the spread. … Are there any methods legally that we could do that would curtail the spread?”

Dazon Dixon Diallo of the Georgia Coalition to End HIV Criminalization said, “When we come into spaces like this and we hear questions around how legally far can we go to isolate people or even quarantine people, then it just lets you know that we have a real uphill battle," according to Project Q, who originally reported the story.

Price's comments were "incredibly disturbing," said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an LGBT advocacy group. Business Insider reported Graham as saying "it’s very troubling to hear comments like that... It shows the amount of work that still needs to happen to educate elected officials on the reality of the lives of people living with HIV."

Physical quarantines, however, would have little or no effect on the spread of HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control, "only certain body fluids—blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk—from a person who has HIV can transmit HIV. These fluids must come in contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissue or be directly injected into the bloodstream (from a needle or syringe) for transmission to occur. Mucous membranes are found inside the rectum, vagina, penis, and mouth."

"I’m hoping Rep. Price would be open to sitting down, meeting with folks, hearing how those comments sound, and recognizing that’s not the direction we need to go in," said Graham of Georgia Equality.

Though, Price has supported some measures that experts say would have a big impact on curbing HIV. Stat News reported that she supported needle exchanges, which allow addicts access to clean needles.

The CDC reported that almost 50,000 HIV-positive people lived in Georgia in 2014. The virus disproportionately affects African Americans, who make up 12 percent of the population but 45 percent of HIV patients.

Rep. Price did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Article image Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) stands with his wife Betty Price before being sworn in as the new Health and Human Services Secretary, on February 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Yesterday Price was confirmed by the U.S. Senate | Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images