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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.138669v1 98/10/1779    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gable, L. Articles by Hodge, J. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gable, L. Articles by Hodge, J. G., Jr Related Collections Global Health Health Law Health Policy HIV/AIDS Sexual Health Human Rights

Lance Gable, JD, MPH, Lawrence O. Gostin, JD and James G. Hodge, Jr, JD, LLM

Lance Gable is with Wayne State University Law School, Detroit, MI. Lawrence O. Gostin is with the Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Washington, DC. James G. Hodge Jr is with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. All authors are also with the Centers for Law and the Public's Health: A Collaborative at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities, Baltimore, MD.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Lance Gable, JD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Law, Wayne State University Law School, 471 W Palmer, Detroit, MI 48202 (e-mail: lancegable{at}wayne.edu).

The law is a frequently overlooked tool for addressing the complex practical and ethical issues that arise from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The law intersects with reproductive and sexual health issues and HIV/AIDS in many ways. Well-written and rigorously applied laws could benefit persons living with (or at risk of contracting) HIV/AIDS, particularly concerning their reproductive and sexual health.

Access to reproductive health services should be a legal right, and discrimination based on HIV status, which undermines access, should be prohibited. Laws against sexual violence and exploitation, which perpetuate the spread of HIV and its negative effects, should be enforced. Finally, a human rights framework should inform the drafting of laws to more effectively protect health.