AIDS: at the limits of the law.

A IDS is a tragedy of epic proportions. It is a tragedy first and foremost for those who contract it and must suffer its agonies and the early and excruciating death that it inevitably brings. It is a tragedy for those who test positive for the AIDS virus and who must live in terrible suspense. It is a tragedy for those who must watch helplessly as AIDS destroys the lives of their friends, family and loved ones. But AIDS is much more than a personal tragedy for those who are immediately exposed to the disease. AIDS is a tragedy for those who must suffer discrimination, whether they have the disease or are merely perceived by others as being at risk of contracting it. AIDS threatens our society as it responds to the disease with hatred and discrimination fueled by ignorant fear and bigotry. It is tragic when police refuse to touch an injured victim of a mugging because of a fear that the victim might have AIDS; when parents withdraw their children from school based on a rumor about a child with AIDS; when landlords refuse to rent to a couple, both of whom happen to be male, simply because the landlords feel they might be gay and in a high-risk group; when employers fire or refuse to hire; when doctors refuse to treat; or when priests refuse to counsel. The examples are legion and nationwide and evidence an even more insidious disease than AIDS itself-the irrational fear of persons with AIDS or persons perceived to be at risk of contracting the disease. Because this fear eats away the underpinnings of our whole society, it potentially has an even greater impact than the actual disease itself. One example of how this irrational fear has manifested itself is in calls by legislators, health care providers and the general public for wholesale involuntary testing for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, with the implication that some penalty or other stigma would attach to those who tested positive. Another example is the deplorable increase in discrimination against homosexual persons. Such responses are contrary to modern notions of privacy, informed consent, individual autonomy and equality-values which our society exalts. Thus, AIDS tests our commitment to these and other principles. Litigants and others are testing the limits of existing law as they urge courts to apply it in new contexts, and as they …