New Jersey to Require HIV Testing for Pregnant Women, Newborns
By Stacie Servetah

Dec. 26, 2007 - (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey will require all pregnant women to be tested for HIV unless they opt out under legislation signed into law today by Richard Codey, the Senate president serving as acting governor while Jon Corzine is on vacation.

Health-care providers will test pregnant women for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in their first and third trimesters unless they refuse, according to the new law. Newborns whose mother's HIV status is positive or unknown at the time of delivery also will be tested.

"Today, New Jersey becomes the first state to require universal opt-out HIV testing for pregnant women, a move that has the potential to dramatically reduce the transmission of HIV from a pregnant mother to her newborn," Codey said in a statement.

Codey, who sponsored the legislation in the Senate, said it is modeled after recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a 2006 report, the CDC estimated that the rate of transmission during childbirth might be reduced to less than 2 percent from about 25 percent with a combination of universal screening, preventative drugs, Cesarean delivery and avoidance of breast feeding.

The number of children in the U.S. reported with AIDS attributed to HIV transmission during childbirth declined to 48 in 2004 from a peak of 945 in 1992, primarily because of the identification of infected pregnant women and the effectiveness of preventative drugs in reducing mother-to-child transmission, according to the CDC report.

Only New York, Connecticut, Illinois and Indiana require some form of newborn testing, Codey said. Of those four states, none require universal opt-out testing for pregnant mothers.

'Great Strides'

Codey, an Essex County Democrat, signed the measure today at the maternity ward of University Hospital in Newark. Corzine, also a Democrat, supports the legislation, his spokeswoman, Lilo Stainton, said in an e-mail today. The governor is on vacation with family and friends until Jan. 1, she said.

"New Jersey has made great strides in reducing the transmission of HIV to newborns through a comprehensive approach utilizing both testing and counseling," Stainton said. "This is an important public health issue, and Governor Corzine shares Acting Governor Codey's commitment to ensuring that we are doing everything we can to continue this positive trend."

To contact the reporter on this story: Stacie Servetah in Trenton, New Jersey, at at sbabula@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: December 26, 2007 13:33 EST