Privacy That Kills

ON THE FACE OF IT, representative Tom Coburn and New York assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn are mirror opposites: He's a staunch Republican, she's a fiery Democrat; he's pro-life, she's pro-choice; he's socially conservative, she's a booster of gay rights; he's a fundamentalist Christian, she's Jewish; he's Oklahoma, she's pure Queens. But across this yawning political and cultural divide, the two have embraced as allies to promote their common passion -- saving new born babies from AIDS.

A committed feminist who received the New York State National Organization for Women Legislator of the Year Award in 1989, Mayersohn saw praise from the liberal establishment turn to vituperation when she introduced legislation in 1994 requiring HIV testing of all New York newborns and disclosure of the results to mothers of babies who tested positive for the HIV antibody.

It's not as if newborns weren't already being tested. They were -- for statistical purposes and to track the course of the epidemic, which revealed that about 1,800 New York State babies were born HIV-positive every year. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of these babies were not actually infected but only tested positive for the antibody. Assuming proper medical treatment and no further exposure to the HIV virus -- say, by nursing at their mother's breasts -- most of these babies would not become ill. The other 20 percent to 30 percent actually had AIDS, but quick treatment could extend both the quality and duration of their lives. Unfortunately, strict confidentiality rules enacted at the behest of AIDS activists who fetishize "privacy" meant that mothers could not be informed about their babies' HIV status unless they asked.