Eight years ago, when Abdul El-Sayed ran for governor in Michigan, he called for ending the criminalization of HIV. Now, as the Democratic Senate nominee in a tight midterm contest, he is sticking with that stance. The law he wants repealed makes it a felony for people who know they have HIV to have sex without first telling their partner. His demand for its repeal has resurfaced now that the race has come down to him against Republican Rep. Mike Rogers.
The law carried a prison sentence of up to four years for people who knew they were HIV-positive and engaged in sexual penetration without first informing their partner of their HIV status. El-Sayed attacked it repeatedly during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, when he ran unsuccessfully for Michigan governor. The law dated to 1988.
“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 said at the time.
What El-Sayed Said in 2018
As he ran for the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nomination — a contest he lost to now-two-term Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — El-Sayed made the issue a centerpiece of his campaign. His website stated: “Repeal HIV/AIDS criminalization laws and the exclusion of transgender Michiganders from state Medicaid.”
When asked in 2018 if he supported the decriminalization of HIV through legislation that would create two levels of misdemeanors, El-Sayed was blunt. “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.”
As she campaigned for governor, Whitmer backed changing the law, saying: “It’s wrong to criminalize sickness, which is what this law has effectively done. It absolutely should be revisited.”
The 2019 Reform
After passing through a GOP-controlled legislature with broad bipartisan support, the law was reformed in early 2019. The revisions restricted felony charges to cases involving an intent to transmit HIV or actual transmission. Non-transmission offenses were downgraded to misdemeanors, and medically suppressed individuals were shielded from prosecution under the statute’s reckless-disregard provision.
What El-Sayed’s Campaign Says Now
The campaign has not changed its position on the issue. “Abdul supports the bipartisan reform bill that passed in 2019 through a Republican legislature that eliminated the discriminatory laws on the books,” 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.
El-Sayed has also criticized the Trump administration’s approach to public health. “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,” Richner said.
“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,” Richner added.
Last week, as El-Sayed secured an endorsement from the Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ advocacy group, he reaffirmed his past stance against discrimination targeting people with HIV. 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,” he noted.
The Race to Date
In August, El-Sayed narrowly edged out more moderate Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens in a contentious primary that further exposed the rift between the party’s left-wing and establishment factions. He would become the nation’s first Muslim senator if elected.
One of the central pillars of El-Sayed’s campaign is support for “Medicare for all”. He has additionally proposed ending Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has spoken out strongly against Israel while it is engaged in its war with Hamas, describing Israel’s conduct in Gaza as “genocide” targeting Palestinians.
The Democrats need to keep the Senate, which the GOP now controls, and the contest in Michigan stands as their best chance to do it.
How the Law Changed
- The felony provisions were narrowed to instances where there was an intent to transmit HIV or actual transmission had occurred.
- Certain non-transmission offenses were reduced to misdemeanors.
- Medically suppressed people were protected from prosecution under the law’s reckless-disregard provision.
The change lined up with what El-Sayed had said before. He maintained that no sickness should carry a legal penalty, and the amended statute removed the felony consequences for individuals whose HIV was under medical control.
The Record El-Sayed Is Running On
Eight years on, El-Sayed remains committed to the position he first took. The law he set out to change was actually reformed in 2019, and he has kept supporting that reform ever since. Both his campaign website and his spokesperson have confirmed that stance.
Democrats consider the Michigan race a must hold, and El-Sayed’s position on HIV criminalization stands as a matter of record — and he has not altered it.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1988 | The law was enacted |
| 2018 | El-Sayed ran for Michigan governor and attacked the law |
| 2019 | The law was reformed through a GOP-controlled legislature |
| 2026 | El-Sayed faces Mike Rogers in the midterm race |
Democrats still need to win this race, and El-Sayed’s stance on HIV criminalization is well known, with no change made to it.
Source material: “Abdul El-Sayed called for repealing law that made sex without disclosing HIV status a felony,” the New York Post.
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