Word: gostin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Another recent decision has raised questions about the social vulnerability of high-risk AIDS groups. Last year the court ruled that state sodomy laws -- which have been around since 1662 -- do not unconstitutionally invade individual privacy. Notes Attorney Gostin: "The decision left the door wide open to states which already have an irrational prejudice against gays and are hysterical about AIDS to introduce more coercive measures against homosexuals." Some observers even foresee attempts to control fertility in black and Hispanic communities where intravenous-drug abuse and AIDS are rampant. "I am certain there will be a lot of calls...
...Henry said, 'Give me liberty or give me death,' he wasn't talking about AIDS." Still, it is now clear that the more the disease spreads, the more the civil liberties of its victims are likely to suffer. Necessarily, public well-being takes precedence over individual rights, notes Larry Gostin, Harvard professor of health law and a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The danger," he says, "lies in using public health the same way some use national security -- as an overvague justification with no proof that it will do any good...
These conclusions may affect proposed legislation in more than 30 states, including Massachusetts, requiring AIDS screening for couples seeking a marriage license, said Lawrence Gostin, a member of the six-person committee which authored the study and a senior research fellow at the School of Public Health...
...addition to being impractical, compulsoryAIDS testing raises serious constitutionquestions, Gostin said, legal counselor to the SPHcommittee. Gostin said that legislation requiringtesting for couples seeking a marriage licensecould be declared unconstitutional in court