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| Condoms in prison passes CA legislature |
| By The California Chronicle |
| Published: 08/25/2006 |
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SACRAMENTO, CA - AB 1677 authored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) was passed by the California Legislature today when Senators voted 22 to 15 in support of making condoms available to state prison inmates. The bill is sponsored by the Southern California HIV/AIDS Advocacy Coalition, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and AIDS Project Los Angeles. AB 1677 would enable public health agencies to enter California state prisons and provide condoms to inmates in an effort to control the spread of HIV and AIDS in prison and particularly in communities with high incarceration rates. “The HIV infection rate in our state correctional facilities is many times higher than in the general population. Everyone knows that sex happens in prison, and short of solitary confinement for all 162,000 inmates, the state is unable to prevent it. Ignoring that fact by banning condoms results in unnecessary inmate infections and fuels HIV transmission outside of prison, particularly in our minority communities,” said Assemblyman Koretz. California prisons house over 162,083 individuals who are at high risk of contracting HIV. The rate of HIV infection in California's prison system in 1994 was estimated to be 2.5 percent. That is eight times higher than in the general population of Los Angeles County which had a rate of 0.32 percent in 2000. The average length of stay in California prisons is 24.1 months, with many HIV infections going undetected until long after release...Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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