Huckabee defends AIDS remarks

VAN METER, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee defended himself Tuesday against continuing criticism of statements he made about AIDS 15 years ago, when he called for isolating those stricken with the disease to prevent it from spreading.

Huckabee said his statements reflected the state of knowledge about AIDS at the time, even though the U.S. surgeon general by then had reported that the disease could not be spread through casual contact.

Huckabee on Sunday stood by his comments in a 1992 interview, infuriating Jeanne White-Ginder, whose son, Ryan White, died of AIDS. White-Ginder called Huckabee's remarks "alarming" and has asked for a meeting with him.

"It's very important to me that we don't live in the darkness" when people thought AIDS was transmitted through casual contact, such as by "kissing, tears, sweat and saliva," White-Ginder said. "We have to treat this disease like a disease, and like Ryan always said, not like a dirty word."

White was 13 when he was diagnosed with AIDS in December 1984, having contracted the disease from the blood-clotting agent used to treat his hemophilia. He was barred from school the following year out of fear the disease was spread casually. He died in 1990 at age 18.

Huckabee was challenged on the AIDS issue Tuesday by two advocacy groups, the Human Rights Campaign and the AIDS Institute, of which White-Ginder is a board member. Huckabee said he would meet with White's family.

"I would be very willing to meet with them," the former Arkansas governor said Tuesday while campaigning in Western Iowa. "I would tell them we've come a long way in research, in treatment."

Huckabee didn't comment on his current thinking concerning AIDS, but a statement issued by his campaign in November called for stepping up efforts to provide medical care, in this country as well as internationally, for patients with the disease or the virus that causes it.

As Huckabee's underdog candidacy has experienced a surge in support, his past is facing new scrutiny, including his past comments on AIDS and homosexuality.

In 1992, Huckabee, in the midst of a run for the U.S. Senate, wrote in reply to an Associated Press questionnaire that steps ought to be taken to "isolate the carriers of this plague."

"It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil-rights issue instead of the true health crises it represents," Huckabee wrote.

Prominent conservative Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, took to the Internet and the airwaves in recent days to defend Huckabee. Perkins said the candidate is being asked about long-ago statements about AIDS, homosexuality and morality because of his faith, and he predicted that more conservative religious voters will rally to Huckabee's side if the criticism continues.

Huckabee told reporters following him on the campaign trail in Iowa on Tuesday that, in 1992, even health-care professionals were unsure about how AIDS could be transmitted.

"We had a number of people contact us — medical professionals, EMTs, paramedics and others — who said in 1992, they were worried and they were told take all these precautions because while officially we were told there's no indication of [transmission through] casual contact, there was a lot of fear and anxiety and there [were] still precautions being taken," Huckabee said. "And interestingly, a lot of people didn't trust the government then and don't trust the government now."

Huckabee said recent news accounts misconstrued his comments in 1992 by suggesting that he supported "locking people up."

But when asked to explain the distinction between locking people up and "isolation," Huckabee said such decisions ought to be left to public-health officials.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.