Overview
There are no laws in Delaware explicitly criminalising people living with HIV and we are not aware of any prosecutions under general laws.
Delaware law requires all donors of semen, corneas, bones, organs, or other tissues to be tested for HIV prior to their use. Although the law does not criminalise those who give donations, it does make it an offence for anyone to use donated substances without testing for HIV, or to use donated substances from a donor who has tested positive for HIV. Violation of this provision is a felony punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine. This law, therefore, appears to target medical professionals rather than donors.
Health laws also permit compulsory examination, treatment, and isolation of people suspected of living with STIs. Although HIV is not specifically mentioned, the definition of STIs covers HIV. People living with STIs who are deemed ‘imminent dangers to public health’ can be temporarily detained, and fines can be issued for refusal to comply.
For a detailed analysis of HIV criminalisation in Delaware, as well as all other US states, see the Center for HIV Law and Policy report, HIV Criminalisation in the United States: a Sourcebook on State and Federal HIV Criminal Law and Practice.
Laws
Delaware Code § 2801
Establishment of registry; testing of donors; penalties
(…)
(b) All donors of semen for purposes of artificial insemination, or donors of corneas, bones, organs or other human tissue for the purpose of injecting, transfusing or transplanting any of them in the human body, shall be tested for evidence of exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and any other identified causative agent of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) at the time of or after the donation, but prior to the semen, corneas, bones, organs or other human tissue being made available for such use. However, when in the opinion of the attending physician the life of a recipient of a bone, organ or other human tissue donation would be jeopardized by delays caused by testing for evidence for exposure to HIV and any other causative agent of AIDS, testing shall not be required prior to the life-saving measures.
(c) No person may intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently use the semen, corneas, bones, organs or other human tissue of a donor unless the requirements of subsection (b) of this section have been met. No person may knowingly, recklessly or intentionally use the semen, corneas, bones, organs or other human tissue of a donor who has tested positive for exposure to HIV or any other identified causative agent of AIDS, except that this subsection shall not apply to the recovery and use of organs or other anatomical gifts as authorized under federal law for research and/or transplant from a donor who has tested positive for exposure to HIV where the intended recipients have also tested positive for exposure to HIV. Violation of this subsection shall be a class E felony.