Forensic evidence can be an important tool in solving and prosecuting sexual assault cases, but some victims don't feel comfortable coming forward to police or medical examiners right away. Enter Leda Health, a company selling at-home evidence collection kits. "Collect time-sensitive DNA after sexual assault," the company advertises.
Typically, rape kits—as they are unfortunately called—are administered by medical professionals. With Leda's "early evidence kits," people collect potential DNA themselves and send it off to be processed by the company's partner labs.
But some states think Leda is overselling what its product can do for a victim.
"These kits essentially offer false promises to consumers by misleading them to think evidence collected privately at home can result in a criminal conviction—that is yet to have happened anywhere with the use of these kits," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry when she sued Leda in civil court in June. At least two states—Maryland and Washington—have outright banned the evidence kits. New York and Pennsylvania have sent cease-and-desist letters to Leda.
In a suit of its own against Pennsylvania and New York, Leda counters that "these kits are important because data shows that factors like lack of access, privacy concerns, personal safety, and distrust cause many sexual assault victims to avoid law enforcement and traditional methods of reporting and seeking help." The company "has never claimed that its resources are better or more effective than those offered by the government," but it adds "survivors may require more (and different) resources than what governments currently offer them."
States haven't exactly done a stellar job at managing sexual assault forensic evidence. In some states, police have been caught throwing out untested rape kits even before statutes of limitation expire. Many states have backlogs of untested rape kits—some numbering in the thousands, according to the group End the Backlog. At last measure, Pennsylvania had 177 kits in its backlog and Maryland—one of the worst offenders—had 5,468 untested rape kits.
In April, Maryland's Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed into law a measure banning the sale of self-administered sexual assault evidence collection kits, deeming such sales "an unfair, deceptive, or abusive trade practice." The law also bans self-collected evidence from being admissible in criminal or civil court proceedings, unless collected using a kit issued by the Maryland Department of Health.
In 2023, Washington state passed H.B. 1564, which bans selling "a sexual assault kit that is marketed or otherwise presented as over-the-counter, at-home, or self-collected or in any manner that indicates that the sexual assault kit may be used for the collection of evidence of sexual assault other than by law enforcement or a health care provider."
"Leda Health believes sexual assault survivors need resources beyond what the government offers," the company said in a lawsuit filed in response against Washington state. Leda "does everything it can to supply admissible results," including offering a full chain-of-custody report. The ban violates the First Amendment, the company argues, by restricting "what it can and cannot say about sexual assault evidence collection."
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