Bad idea. Another instance of ignorant Democrats not thinking things
through.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/09/07/democrats-are-pushing-
biden-let-hiv-positive-americans-join-military.html

A group of Democratic lawmakers is urging President Joe Biden to allow
Americans who have tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, to
enlist in the military.

The Pentagon announced earlier this year that HIV-positive troops will no
longer be involuntarily separated or barred from deployment, but it kept
restrictions on those with the virus enlisting or commissioning into the
military.

Now, Democratic lawmakers say the Biden administration must "follow to its
conclusion the path set forth" by its new policy and allow the enlistment
or appointment of Americans living with HIV.

"Just as it abandoned the defense of discriminatory restrictions on
service members living with HIV, we ask your administration to abandon
these excuses for continuing to prevent people living with HIV who are
stabilized in treatment from joining the U.S. military," the lawmakers
wrote in a letter to Biden on Wednesday.

Two separate but identical letters were sent by six senators led by Sens.
Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Chris Coons, D-Del., and 34 House members
led by Reps. Mike Quigley, D-Ill.; Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.; and Barbara Lee,
D-Calif.

HIV emerged in the 1980s, and its initial concentration in LGBTQ
communities led people to stigmatize the disease. Since then, treatments
have been developed that can lower the viral load to a level that is
undetectable in tests, which also prevents transmission, and those with
the virus can live long, otherwise healthy lives.

The Pentagon's June announcement came after an April court ruling that
prevented the Pentagon from discharging service members or denying them
commissions based solely on their HIV infection status.

While the Justice Department had argued transmission of HIV on the
battlefield continues to be a danger despite new treatments lowering the
risk of transmission, the Clinton-appointed judge in the case ruled that
the Defense Department's policy was "at odds with current medical evidence
concerning HIV treatment and transmission."

The military had a "policy for which there is no rational basis," U.S.
District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema wrote in her April 22 decision.

The Pentagon's new policy specifically allows current troops who are
asymptomatic and have an undetectable viral load to continue serving and
deploying, as well as to commission.

About 2,000 service members are HIV-positive and approximately 350 are
newly diagnosed each year, according to data from advocacy group Lambda
Legal and the Congressional Research Service. An estimated 1.2 millions
Americans aged 13 and older had HIV as of 2019, according to the most
recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Opponents of restrictions on military service for people with HIV argue
that, in addition to being outdated because of advancements in treatment,
such policies are discriminatory since they disproportionately affect
LGBTQ people and people of color.

In their letter to Biden, the Democratic lawmakers applauded the June
policy change. But they also said arguments for keeping restrictions on
enlistment, such as health care costs and speculation that people with HIV
will join the military to receive health care, "are not worthy of this
administration's support."

The Biden administration made those arguments in its defense against the
lawsuits over the old policy, with the Justice Department writing in a
court filing that "treatment and annual clinical monitoring of a well-
managed HIV patient represents a significant cost burden" and that "this
cost was considered in the development of the accessions medical standards
for HIV."

In addition to HIV, the lawmakers also pushed Biden to lift restrictions
on deployments and enlistment for people with hepatitis B, or HBV. Those
restrictions, they argued, are "even less justifiable" than the ones for
HIV since there is an effective hepatitis B vaccine required for everyone
in the military that "reduces even the merely theoretical risk of
battlefield transmission to near zero."

"For far too long, people living with HIV and HBV have faced harmful and
discriminatory policies in our armed forces that create unnecessary
barriers to serve," the senators said in a statement released alongside
the letter. "The current policy banning these individuals from enlisting
or joining a commissioning program is outdated and without merit, and does
not reflect the military's commitment to equality, diversity, and the
inclusion of all races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations in
service."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct how many senators
signed the letter.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her
on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: HIV Status Will No Longer Automatically Disqualify Troops from
Deployment, Retention

--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.