NCJ Number
120732
Journal
Catholic Lawyer Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: (1989) Pages: 252-262
Date Published
1989
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Legal counselors to the dioceses must be prepared to answer AIDS questions in the context of employment, health care, education, and the clergy.
Abstract
AIDS policy evolves as new information about the disease is disclosed. The article reviews principle court decisions, statutes, and collateral legal issues involving AIDS to assist counselors and church-affiliated institutions in their responses to questions about AIDS. A California district court held that AIDS is a handicap under Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and therefore protected against discrimination. In 1986, the New York City Council passed a gay rights bill which prohibits employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Homosexual and bisexual men make up 66 percent of AIDS cases. AIDS policy is based almost entirely on the contagiousness of the HIV virus and the four ways it is transmitted: sexual intimacy, IV (intravenous) drug abuse, transfusions, and birth. 31 notes.