The governor reluctantly signed legislation to repeal the nation's only premarital AIDS-testing requirement, acknowledging that in 1 1/2 years only 52 AIDS cases were found among the 250,000 tests.
Lawmakers, health officials and civil rights organizations applauded Republican Gov. James R. Thompson's action Monday."It was infringing on people's civil liberties, was detrimental to the public health and had very little benefit," said John Hammell, director of the AIDS and Civil Liberties project of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union.
"We're talking about tens of thousands who changed marriage plans or went out of state."