Do the right thing.

Although Spike Lee’s controversial film does not focus on AIDS or its dramatic effects, the refreshingly simple four-word title can convey a theme for our age.

Gov. James Thompson signed a bill earlier this week repealing Illinois’ mandatory AIDS testing for couples applying for marriage licenses. This is the necessary undoing of a law that was misguided from the very beginning.

Of the more than 250,000 tested for AIDS in the time the law was in effect, about 50 tested positive. This statistic is important in two contradictory ways.

Yes, the 50 people that tested positive are an important factor. But the 249,950-odd others were put to unnecessary time and expense to be tested for a virus that most responsible marriage-minded couples probably would never contract.

AIDS is not most prevalent among the population that promenades happily into City Hall to sign their marriage license. It is mostly the drug users, pushers, prostitutes and others who contract and spread the virus. The foolproof way to prevent AIDS from affecting you—do the right thing. People who have received blood transfusions and might have innocently contracted the virus should be responsible enough to know about the dangers and get themselves tested for AIDS.

People should be responsible enough in their personal lives to look out for themselves as far as AIDS is concerned. Mandatory testing never would have solved the spread of AIDS. That is up to you.