---
title: O.C.G.A. § 31-17-4.2. HIV and syphilis pregnancy screening.
collection: code
id: 31-17-4.2
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 31-17-4.2 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-17-4.2
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-17-4.2.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/31-17-4.2/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t31-(v23)-2025-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=da7ded69_0#page=836
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia
heading_path: HEALTH / CONTROL OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
---

# O.C.G.A. § 31-17-4.2. HIV and syphilis pregnancy screening.

(a) This Code section shall be known and may be cited as the “Georgia HIV/Syphilis Pregnancy Screening Act of 2015.”

(b) Except in cases where the pregnant woman refuses the testing, a pregnant woman shall be tested for HIV and syphilis:

(1) At the pregnant woman’s first prenatal visit;

(2) When she is at 28 to 32 weeks’ gestation; and

(3) At delivery.

Each such test shall be conducted by the physician or other healthcare provider who is providing prenatal care for such pregnant woman at each such point in the woman’s pregnancy.

(c) If the woman tests positive for HIV or syphilis, counseling services provided by the Department of Public Health shall be made available to her and she shall be referred to appropriate medical care providers for herself and her child.

(d) If for any reason the pregnant woman is not tested for HIV and syphilis, that fact shall be recorded in the patient’s records, which, if based upon the refusal of the patient, shall relieve the physician or other healthcare provider of any other responsibility under this Code section.

(e) The Department of Public Health shall be authorized to promulgate rules and regulations for the purpose of administering the requirements under this Code section.

## History

Code 1981, § 31-17-4.2, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 173, § 1/HB 429; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 6-3/HB 214; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1346, § 1/HB 436; Ga. L. 2016, p. 752, § 1/HB 1058; Ga. L. 2023, p. 320, § 1/SB 46, effective July 1, 2023; Ga. L. 2025, p. 1029, § 31(51)/SB 153, effective July 1, 2025.

## Cross References

Control of HIV, § 31-17A-1 et seq.

HIV tests, generally, § 31-22-9.2.

## Law Reviews

For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 147 (2011).

## Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, rewrote subsection (b), which read: “Every physician and health care provider who assumes responsibility for the prenatal care of a pregnant woman during gestation and at delivery shall be required to test such pregnant woman for HIV and syphilis except in cases where the woman refuses the testing. Additionally, every physician and health care provider who provides prenatal care of a pregnant woman during the third trimester of gestation shall offer to test such pregnant woman for HIV and syphilis at the time of first examination during that trimester or as soon as possible thereafter, regardless of whether such testing was performed during the first two trimesters of her pregnancy.”; deleted former subsection (c), which read: “If at the time of delivery there is no written evidence that an HIV test or a syphilis test has been performed, the physician or other health care provider in attendance at the delivery shall order that a test for HIV, syphilis, or both be administered at the time of the delivery except in cases where the woman refuses the testing; provided, however, that if available documentation indicates that a test for HIV and syphilis was already performed during the third trimester of her pregnancy in accordance with subsection (b) of this Code section, and the woman does not disclose when questioned any activities posing a risk for infection with HIV or syphilis occurring more recently than would have been detected by such test, the physician or health care provider in attendance at the delivery is not required to order such additional test.”; redesignated former subsections (d) through (f) as present subsections (c) through (e), respectively; deleted the first two sentences in present subsection (c), which read: “The woman shall be notified of the test to be conducted and shall have the opportunity to refuse the test. A pregnant woman shall submit to an HIV test and a syphilis test pursuant to this Code section unless she specifically refuses.”; and, in subsection (d), substituted “healthcare provider” for “health care provider”.

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “28 to 32” for “28—32” in paragraph (b)(2).