Deukmejian Denounces AIDS Initiative

SACRAMENTO — The Lyndon LaRouche-sponsored AIDS initiative on the June 7 ballot was denounced by Gov. George Deukmejian on Saturday as “wholly unnecessary and unwarranted” to cope with the deadly epidemic.

He insisted that California public health authorities “already have the tools they need to protect the public, and to take all of the necessary actions to minimize the spread of this disease.”

The initiative, Proposition 69, is a virtual carbon copy of the AIDS initiative political extremist LaRouche promoted in 1986, which the voters overwhelmingly defeated. Supporters of the proposal hope that in the interim voter attitudes toward acquired immune deficiency syndrome will have shifted in favor of their latest plan.

Subject to Quarantine

Basically, Proposition 69 would require physicians to provide public health authorities with the names of patients who have AIDS, or who test positive to exposure to the AIDS virus. Such people could be subject to quarantine, monitoring by government agencies or other steps available to health officials for controlling communicable diseases.

In his regular weekly radio broadcast, Deukmejian recited a list of actions California has taken to combat the always fatal and rapidly expanding disease. The governor, who has been accused by critics of failing to approve sufficient money for the AIDS fight, said that this year $75 million is being spent on the battle and that the sum is expected to reach $115 million next year.

“Given our strong record and ongoing commitment to fighting AIDS, Proposition 69 . . . is wholly unnecessary and unwarranted,” the governor said.

Noting that he also opposed LaRouche’s 1986 AIDS measure, as did virtually every major political leader in California, Deukmejian charged that the newest ballot effort “represents a response based on fear and not the facts.”

Boomerang Effect Feared

The governor observed that some medical authorities fear that, if passed, Proposition 69 would actually have a boomerang effect, “because it would deter individuals from being tested and seeking treatment for fear of isolation and quarantine.”

In addition, he said, legal experts believe that the proposal’s “general quarantine measures would be useless and constitutionally suspect.”

The state Department of Health Services has estimated the cost of implementing the initiative at $1 billion, a sum Deukmejian said “should be spent on essential services, including finding a cure for this dreaded disease.”