Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."

This is a pretty bold stance, but sometimes extreme policy is necesary for extreme problems. He goes further to state..

If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," Huckabee wrote.

It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."

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Perhaps this is a bit too extreme, but I do not think it a bad thing to take measures to ensure that the HIV virus is not so easily passed around. The problem lies in the many that have it and do not know, or know and do not say. All in all though, if someone has it, they should be extremely cautiuos to not pass it on. If isolation is what it takes then, maybe thats what needs to be done. If I had HIV I surely would not want to pass it on to anyone.

Take those herpes commercials for instance. They want to sell medication to lower the risk of passing it. Here is an idea if you know your partner has herpes and you do not want to catch it.............. ready???


Do not sleep with that person, find a new.. more disease free partner. I realize there are many times where one may not know his/her partner is a carrier, but the ones all happy in those commercials know!

ugh, it makes me sick to think that someone that spreads such ignorant bigotry is even considered as a candidate... and to make matters worse, one that has a shot at the nomination.

Wow, that is a bold stance to take.

What about the people who get infected by rape? Children born with it? Those that get it from blood transfusions (rare) or some other medical procedure (rare)? What about medical employees who get it from an accident at work?

They should all be quarantined? Talk about impinging on someone's rights! Thanks for posting this. I had not know his stance was so bigoted.

VV

How many lives could have been saved if there had been a sane public health approach to HIV, rather than the politically correct approach that was chosen instead?

No one will ever know.

Quarantining those with contagious diseases is nothing new and is just plain good sense.

In hindsight, we now know that HIV is difficult, though obviously, not impossible to contract, still accidental infections do occur.

This statement is absolutely true:

"It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."

news.yahoo.com...;_ylt=Amk1mMmkGuzdT6z615MreZis0NUE

This is what he has to say today and again, he is right on the money:

"We now know that the virus that causes AIDS is spread differently, with a lower level of contact than with TB," Huckabee said. "But looking back almost 20 years, my concern was the uncertain risk to the general population — if we got it wrong, many people would die needlessly. My concern was safety first, political correctness last."

news.yahoo.com...;_ylt=Amk1mMmkGuzdT6z615MreZis0NUE

I haven't decided on a candidate yet, but Huckabee is an intelligent, articulate man who is not afraid of the truth.

Such qualifications will not appeal to all.

Ah, those were the days...authentic republican fear-mongering. Good times, good times....

Just pointing out that Huckabee said what he did in . . . . 1992.

Back then, there were no "HIV cocktails." If I am remembering correctly, there was no known treatment for most of the symptoms of aids.

I bet a lot of people on ATS nowadays were advocating similar things back then, if they were old enought to argue about it.

And any activity that sreads pathogens is a health risk. homosexual acts, heterosexual acts, not washing your hands before returning to work, etc. Since at that point in the story of AIDS, it seemed to be confined to the homosexual community, public health authorities made a logical link between gay sex and HIV.

Any website that is medically accurate will tell you that homesexual practices ARE more likely to spread HIV than hetero sex.

CDC website

I just wanted to put a thought out on this one...

My knowledge of HIV/AIDS is that the way it's spread makes it different to some of the other historical diseases that warranted isolation. Those diseases that I can think off were spread just by being in the vicinity of an infected person, as they would travel in the air. With something like HIV/AIDS it takes specific acts (like sex) that don't occur naturally everytime when you meet anyone. You don't have sex with everyone you meet, whereas you probebly do breath in some of the exhaled air from everyone you meet.

So based on that I would say that they don't require isolation, however if someone knows they have this and doesn't inform a sexual partner, I think that should be prosecuted as attempted murder or something similar. (Indeed I have heard of cases of this)

None of this matters since Mr. Huckabee clearly has no chance of winning.

No-one cares who he is and there are alot of people who have no idea who he is.

Even if they started quarantining people with AIDS, they could never get everyone with AIDS as I'm sure there are people who don't know and wouldn't say.

This statement is just ignorant bull being fed to the public that votes for people like this (the small handful of idiots)

reply to post by Aaron_Justin


everyone with a deadly communicable disease should be isolated from those that they havent given it to yet.if they get better then allow them to return to the healthy society------------why should we all have to pay for others lifestyles or be victimized when its not our fault?i feel sorry for anyone that was given a disease against their will by someone with criminal intent--------such criminals should be executed---------and their bodies buried apart from healthy people also.

In reality and as UN-politically correct as it might be, he MAY actually be on to something.


Seeing as there is no ADMITTED cure for AIDS, isolation of AIDS patients would be the only real way to get rid of the disease.

However, since the government doesn't really care to "cure" AIDS, this will never happen.



Though, from a "caring about one another" sense, it SHOULDN'T ever happen as the ONLY way it would ever happen is through force.



It would be more trouble and heartache than it was worth.



Jasn

I find it ironic the Huckabee wants to isolate AIDS patients while at the same time granting clemency and open borders to real dangers to society.


digg.com...
michellemalkin.com...
news.aol.com...


What a hypocrite!! Political pandering of the most despicable kind.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by whaaa]

[edit on 9-12-2007 by whaaa]

[edit on 9-12-2007 by whaaa]

reply to post by SimiusDei


if you Care about yourself and your wife and kids and inlaws and friends then you would want to see those with incurable(by normal means) contagious diseases isolated-----------to live out their remaining lives with their own kind------------------what is so cruel about that ?---------i'm not talking about concentration camps------------there has to be an island somewhere with enough room.

An island??? Yahn...really?! That is your answer to this disease? These are people! And you want to rip them away from their family and friends and just stick them on an island somewhere so you won't have to think of them? "Be with their own kind"...we ARE their own kind (human)!
I don't have AIDS, but to be taken away from everything I knew and loved that would be a death far worse than anything AIDS could ever conjure.
If you truly believe that something needs to be done about AIDS, then how 'bout voting for people who will make it happen in a positive way.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by Doyder]

Originally posted by whaaa
I find it ironic the Huckabee wants to isolate AIDS patients while at the same time granting clemency and open borders to real dangers to society.

You're not bothering to read the source material and making judgements based on incorrect information.

Huckabee's position on AIDS/HIV were held at a time, some fifteen years ago, when far less was known about the disease than is known today.

You can call him a hypocrite, but lives would have been saved if those with AIDS/HIV had been quaranteed in the early days, until such time as more was known about the epidemiology.

You would do well, whaaa, to at least click a link once in a while before jumping in the discussion.

[edit on 2007/12/9 by GradyPhilpott]

I actually had a similar idea a while ago, though not so long ago as fifteen years. Me personally, I thought that the best way was to keep the persons from having children or sexual relations. It's a tough subject, especially since most people take compassion over common sense.
The problem with compassion is that you are keeping the disease in the population and gene pool. It wouldn't get rid of the problem of course, it probably never will, but it would slow it down or shrink it.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

You would do well, whaaa, to at least click a link once in a while before jumping in the discussion.

[edit on 2007/12/9 by GradyPhilpott]

And you sir would do well to click on a link once in a while [like the one's I provided] to see what a hypocrite that sorry excuse for a Republican Huckabee looks like.

Originally posted by whaaa
I find it ironic the Huckabee wants to isolate AIDS patients while at the same time granting clemency and open borders to real dangers to society.

Nothing you've link to makes this statement true or make sense in the context of the facts.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Nothing you've link to makes this statement true or make sense in the context of the facts.

Grady, then try this one on for size. www.politico.com...

The scumbag is indefensible, but I find your support admirable if misguided.

[edit on 9-12-2007 by whaaa]

I'm not supporting Huckabee.

The subject here is Huckabee's position on how to handle the AIDS epidemic and how that position has changed over the years, as new information has emerged regarding the nature of the disease and it's epidemiology.

The idea of quarantine for aids is rediculous. Plagues in the past were isolated because they killed massive segments of populations, in the 50-75% range. You fear mongers need to realize that Aids in america kills a measly 15000 per year. To put this in perspective, Tylenol and other nsaids kill 7000 per year taken as perscribed, Illicit drugs kill about 17000, alcohol kills 85000, pharmeceuticals as prescribed kill 100000, medical error kills over 400000, poor diet and physical inactivity kill 400000, and tobacco kills 460000.

Did you get that? Nsaids such as aspirin and tylenol, Annually kill half as many people as AIDS. And you want to quarintine Aids people? May as well Quarantine Tylenol sales folks, Pharmeceutical companies, Lazy people, etc.