Romney urges HIV test in rapes

Governor Mitt Romney called yesterday for rape and sexual assault suspects to undergo on-demand tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, arguing that Massachusetts, one of five states lacking such a law, lags the nation in assisting victims of sex crimes.

The bill triggered strong opposition from some lawyers and AIDS activists, who argue that it would violate the constitutional rights of defendants by forcing them to take intrusive tests when they have yet to be proven guilty.

Sexual assault victims often take a monthlong precautionary course of drugs that can prevent transmission of HIV.

To be effective, the treatment must start within 72 hours, and victims who don't begin right away must wait up to three months to see if an infection develops, an uncertainty that Romney and others say could be addressed by testing suspects.

''After such a devastating attack, they at least deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing whether or not they are at an increased health risk," Romney said in a statement.

Romney said he was inspired to act by a case last month in which Evandro S. Doirado, 28, is accused of abducting a Framingham woman and her son from a Wal-Mart parking lot and repeatedly raping her over two days.

Prosecutors in the case have requested that Doirado be tested for HIV. The district court judge in the case has yet to rule on the matter.

Under Romney's proposal, rape and sexual assault victims could request HIV tests for their alleged assailants. The bill would require the state Office of Victims Assistance to draft a plan to keep the information confidential. In addition to rape and sexual assaults, the bill would also cover other sex crimes, such as indecent assault on a mentally retarded person and incest.

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a criminologist who has researched sexual assault, said the bill would correct loopholes in the state's laws.

In an interview, she said Massachusetts lacks such a law because ''there is a very strong defense bar in Massachusetts that opposes many efforts to enhance victim safety and victims' rights."

Some civil liberties and AIDS activists say the proposal violates defendants' rights without offering much benefit. The bill would not be likely to prevent HIV transmissions because most rape investigations take more than 72 hours to produce a defendant and move through the initial court hearings, too long to help victims decide whether they need preventive drug treatment.

''You're violating protections against search and seizure, against the right against self-incrimination, with very few procedural safeguards," said Denise McWilliams, director of public policy and legal affairs for the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. ''You're treating someone accused of a crime as if they were convicted."

Sexual assault victims cannot simply test themselves for HIV because it can take up to six weeks for tests to detect the virus. So, in most cases they begin the preventive drug treatment as soon as possible, regardless of what is known about their assailants.

The treatment, usually involving three anti-AIDS drugs, lasts a month, and can produce side effects such as nausea, headaches, vomiting, and diarrhea. Sometimes women balk, and some physicians say that a positive HIV test from a suspect would give victims considerable motivation to complete the treatment.

''It's pretty well known that when you give healthy people these medications, they don't like them," said G. Sonia Nagy, a doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, which she said has treated hundreds of sexual assault victims with the drugs in the past five years. ''If they knew the status of the assailant, that would make them more inclined to go through with the regimen."

Even after the treatment, it takes at least three months for women to know with medical certainty that they are HIV-free.

''If you know today, versus three months from now, that you were safe, you'd feel a whole lot better," Nagy said. ''If you can save someone the emotional distress, that's worth a lot."

Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.