By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill. – A state lawmaker from Chicago wants Illinois students to be tested for HIV.
State Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) is sponsoring a bill that would require children to be tested during their three state-required school physicals. That means kids would be screened for the disease before entering kindergarten and again in fifth and ninth grades.
The results of the tests wouldn't be released to schools -- only that the tests had been performed. Flowers says a quarter of new AIDS cases involve teenagers.
During the last legislative session, Flowers sponsored a measure requiring HIV testing for newborns if their mother's HIV status is unknown. That bill became law in June.