Iowa Administrative Code
Agency 641 - Public Health Department
Chapter 11 - Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Rule 641-11.4 - Hiv Testing-obtaining Consent-voluntary Hiv-related Tests for Pregnant Women

(1) Health care providers that offer prenatal care to women shall provide HIV testing to all pregnant women, including minors, as part of the routine panel of prenatal tests. The health care provider requesting the HIV test of a pregnant woman shall notify the pregnant woman that HIV screening is recommended for all prenatal patients and that the pregnant woman will receive an HIV test as part of the routine panel of prenatal tests unless the pregnant woman objects to the test. No written or oral consent shall be required.

(2) The testing shall occur as early as possible during each pregnancy.

(3) The health care provider requesting the test shall make information about HIV prevention, risk reduction, and treatment opportunities to reduce the possible transmission of HIV to a fetus available to all pregnant women.

(4) A pregnant woman who is a minor shall be informed prior to testing that, upon confirmation according to prevailing medical technology of a positive HIV-related test result, the minor's legal guardian is required to be informed by the health facility conducting the test. Health facilities where minors are tested shall have available a program to notify the legal guardian of a newly diagnosed minor. The notification process shall emphasize the need for family support and shall assist in making available the resources necessary to accomplish that goal. However, a health facility which is precluded by federal statute, regulation, or CDC guidelines from informing the legal guardian is exempt from the notification requirement.

(5) If a pregnant woman objects to and declines the test, the decision shall be documented in the pregnant woman's medical record by the health care provider. A health care provider shall encourage women who decline the test early in prenatal care to be tested at a subsequent visit.

(6) Once a pregnant woman has been informed of a confirmed positive HIV-related test and, if the pregnant woman is a minor, the legal guardian has been notified, no HIV-specific consent for medical procedures and tests shall be required for subsequent medical procedures and tests involved in the care or treatment of a pregnant woman with HIV infection.