31-17-4.2. HIV and syphilis pregnancy screening.

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.

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).

Control of HIV, § 31-17A-1 et seq. HIV tests, generally, § 31-22-9.2.

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