The effect of mandatory premarital HIV testing on marriage: the case of Illinois.

In the past 10 years, AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) has become a dominant public health concern. During the late 1980s, state governments took steps to counter the health threat of AIDS. One of the most controversial was the requirement of the State of Illinois that applicants for marriage licenses be tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies...This report investigates the hypotheses: (a) that mandatory premarital HIV testing decreased marriages in Illinois; and (b) that the requirement increased crossover marriages in states bordering Illinois. Additional analyses investigated the claim that the frequency of marriages in Illinois has rebounded now that premarital testing is no longer mandatory.