SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 350

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 12, 1997

      The Senate Health Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 350 (1R).

      This bill requires that semen banks test potential donors for the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the probable causative agent of AIDS, and freeze all donated semen for a waiting period of at least six months, according to standards adopted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

      The bill also provides that the HIV test shall be performed only after the donor has provided written informed consent according to standards adopted by the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, and that a donor who refuses to provide written informed consent to an HIV test or tests positive for HIV shall not be permitted to donate semen. The bill also stipulates that the cost of the HIV test is to be borne by the recipient of the donation. Finally, the bill requires that any semen bank that violates the provisions of this bill be found guilty of a disorderly persons offense and be liable to a penalty of not more than $1,000 for each offense.