Spring 2026
The Health Not Prisons Collective is an intersectional national initiative launched in 2020 by Counter Narrative Project (CNP), Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN), Sero Project, Transgender Law Center (TLC), and the U.S. Caucus of People Living with HIV (the HIV Caucus) — longtime collaborators led by, and accountable to, communities most affected by HIV criminalization in the United States.
The Health Not Prisons Dispatch is a quarterly bulletin highlighting recent developments relevant to criminalization and policing of people living with HIV in the United States, along with upcoming events, relevant resources, and opportunities to get involved. For more information, email Elena Ferguson at hnp(at)pwn-usa.org.
Greetings readers,
Welcome to the first HNP Newsletter of 2026. The year is already off to a busy start. Attacks on people living with HIV have not slowed down. The Florida ADAP crisis is just the latest example of our already fragile healthcare infrastructure being gutted in the name of “cost-cutting.” On the flipside, we’ve seen Minnesotans resist the disappearances, detentions, and deportations of their neighbors in mass numbers. There is no doubt that we are living under fascism and authoritarianism, but people are resisting throughout this country in a myriad of ways and we shouldn’t lose sight of that.
Before we dive in the latest news on HIV decriminalization efforts, let’s take a look back at some of the HNP Collective’s biggest accomplishments of 2025! In 2025, HNP has/had
Graduated 8 HNP Advocates from the HNP Advocate Program.
Celebrated 2 new states that have modernized and/or repealed their HIV criminalization laws (North Dakota and Maryland).
Helped Tennesseans living with HIV get off sex offense registry due to recent changes in their criminalization laws. Shout to the team at the Transgender Law Center!
Co-sponsored HINAC 6 in Raleigh, NC.
Reached millions of people through the Counter Narrative Project’s social media marketing campaign.
Tracked 50 bills across 24 states using our HNP Bill Tracker.
Curated 2 HNP webinars for the HNP Advocacy Series, hosted and facilitated by HNP advocates.
We could not do the work we do without your generous support! Thank you for engaging with this newsletter and our other content. We at the Collective will continue to keep you informed and block and build in service of the world we deserve.
Sincerely,
Elena Ferguson
On Behalf of the HNP Collective
National Updates
In November 2025, the Trump administration released a proposed rule that would drastically change how immigration officials assess whether certain immigrants are likely to become a “public charge.” Public charge is a legal term that refers to people who may depend on the government as their main source of support in the future. If someone is deemed a “public charge,” their green card or visa application can be denied. The proposed rule is dangerous and vague. If finalized (as we expect it to be), it will invite subjective judgments about immigrants' personal characteristics, including health conditions, and discourage people from accessing benefits, including healthcare benefits, which will inhibit HIV care and prevention and jeopardize lives for communities who already face structural, linguistic, and racial inequities. You can read our public comment, co-authored by PWN and endorsed by 67 organizations, in response to this proposed rule change. You can also read more about the ways that Minnesotans living with HIV are delaying or cancelling planned HIV treatment because of fear of being detained and deported by ICE inThe American Prospect.
HNP Partner Organization Spotlight
This quarter, HNP once again recognized HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day (HINAC Day) on February 28th. The day, which was co-created by HNP partner, Sero Project, serves as an opportunity to amplify the call to action to end state-sanctioned violence towards communities of people living with HIV across the world and to mobilize advocates globally to end HIV criminalization. This year, HNP endorsed HIV Justice Worldwide’s HINAC Day Statement, joining in their calls to action to stand in solidarity with communities most impacted by HIV criminalization laws. In recognition of HINAC Day, HNP partners worked with Rep. Mark Pocan’s office, which introduced a resolution calling on federal lawmakers to recognize that punitive practices like HIV criminalization do not support public health measures.
Decriminalization Efforts at the State Level
In March 2026, HNP launched our 2026 Legislative Session Bill Tracker. The Tracker includes a list of the bills we’re watching this year that impact HIV and sex work criminalization. If you or the state HIV decriminalization coalition that you are a part of are pushing any pieces of relevant legislation, please reach out to Elena (elena(at)pwn-usa.org) and we can add it to our tracker.
The Williams Institute has been instrumental in providing comprehensive research around HIV criminalization across the country. Check out their latest report on the impact of HIV criminalization on Black Americans. This report was released in recognition of Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and highlights the ways in which Black Americans are disproportionately arrested and convicted for HIV-related offenses.
HNP Advocates Corner
The HNP Collective would like to officially congratulate our cohort of HNP Advocates for successfully graduating from our program! We wish you the best of luck as you move into this next phase of advocacy and we thank you for your presence, leadership, and thoughtfulness as you’ve shown up in this program and with your state HIV decriminalization coalitions.
Global News
In February, a new anti-LGBTQ bill was introduced in Ghana. Readers may remember that we reported on a similar piece of legislation based out of Uganda in our Spring 2023 newsletter. Similar to the Ugandan legislation, this bill criminalizes LGBTQ Ghanaians specifically based on their identities. It is important to acknowledge the historical colonial legacy of anti-LGBTQ discrimination on the continent. It was colonial powers like the British that initially codified this kind of anti-LGBTQ sentiment into the laws of its colonial projects, including in Ghana. Additionally, U.S. based evangelical Christian groups are actively lobbying and financially backing these kinds of anti-LGBTQ policies. To learn more about the bill, you can read more in Health Policy Watch here.
On January 27, 2026, the Trump Administration's Department of State published 3 new rules that put violent and harmful conditions on U.S. funding abroad. Together they represent an unprecedented expansion of the Global Gag rule, barring organizations who receive U.S. foreign aid from activities and speech related to abortion, “gender ideology,” and Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI). These rules are not rooted in science or fact and will shatter the ability for women, LGBTQ folks, folks of color from accessing the healthcare that they need. You can read more in the Williams Institute’s latest report here.
Resources from the Field
Watch/Listen
Lashanda Salinas, former HNP Advocate for Tennessee continues to share her experience of being criminalized because of her HIV status and the impact it has had on her life. She was recently featured in 2 amazing storytelling projects: the Sero Project’s new documentary To Be Free and Beyond Do No Harm Network’s Storytelling Media Project: When Healing Becomes Resistance: Interrupting HIV Criminalization.
Read
Jill Collen Jefferson raises questions about how U.S. law enforcement agencies across the South classify the deaths of transgender women, arguing that some cases ruled suicides are really bias-motivated killings of transgender women. You can read more in her latest report for Julian here.
As the Trump Administration continues to deploy an increasingly aggressive and violent federal police force, also known as ICE, Minneapolis residents are showing up for their neighbors and fighting back. To see how Minneapolitans are resisting an ICE takeover of their city check out the latest in Prism.
