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Hawaii lawmakers want to counter the state’s high rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea by letting doctors treat the partners of patients who have the sexually transmitted diseases without first examining them.

But only the straight ones.

The House Consumer Protection and Judiciary committees are set to hear Monday afternoon, one of the last hurdles it needs to clear before becoming law.

The legislation has evolved since its introduction in January, particularly in terms of who would be eligible for expedited partner therapy, as the approach is called.

The bill initially applied to any partner of a patient with chlamydia or gonorrhea. But the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, chaired by Sen. Roz Baker, changed it earlier this month to limit it to heterosexuals.

The amendment was based on a 2006 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that says expedited partner therapy is not routinely recommended for gay couples.

That is largely due to the lack of studies on the effectiveness of the treatment for homosexual partners. For this reason, the CDCP recommends expedited partner therapy for same-sex couples as a last resort.

The approach has grown in popularity throughout the nation over the past decade with only seven states banning it. Expedited partner therapy is permissible in 32 states and potentially allowable in 11 others, according to the CDCP.

Hawaii falls in the gray area where it isn’t illegal or explicitly allowed. The bill moving forward in the Legislature would clarify the state’s position and protect doctors from liability, which contributes to many doctors not utilizing the option.

Many states that allow expedited partner therapy don’t limit it to heterosexual couples. Iowa’s statute, for instance, says doctors can prescribe antibiotics to treat chlamydia for an “individual patient’s partner or partners.”

Sen. Josh Green, an emergency room physician, introduced the bill in the Hawaii Legislature without the heterosexual limitation. But he said Friday that he understands why it was later amended.

“It wasn’t meant to discriminate in any way,” he said.

The chlamydia and gonorrhea treatment for homosexuals requires intravenous therapy, an IV, as opposed to just pills for heterosexuals, Green said. In other words, doctors are not going to hand out needles and drugs to patients to give to their sexual partners.

Still, if the science catches up and the CDC starts recommending the same expedited partner therapy for gay couples as it does for straight people, it could mean that Hawaii would have to go back and change its law to allow the practice.

Jo-Ann Adams has been tracking the bill as legislative liaison for the Democratic Party of Hawaii’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus. She said Friday that she plans to ask for an amendment to remove the heterosexual restriction.

Adams said expedited partner therapy decreases costs borne by taxpayers by reducing the spread of infection and preventing medical complications.

Nationwide, an estimated $850 billion is spent treating chlamydia and gonorrhea infections.

The most recent CDC data ranks Hawaii 22nd in the nation for reported chlamydia infection rates, peaking among 15- to 24-year-olds with higher numbers for women.

Planned Parenthood of Hawaii, which supports the bills, notes in its testimony that of the 6,015 cases reported in 2010, 4,340 were women.

“Whatever we can do to get the problem under control, we should,” Adams said.

Aside from concerns over liability and what populations should be eligible for expedited partner therapy, Green said one aspect of the whole debate can’t be legislated.

He said overcoming the issue of fidelity can be the hardest part for some people. He said patients will be diagnosed with chlamydia or gonorrhea, but not want to tell their partner because it may have been contracted from another person — possibly years earlier.

“From my perspective as a physician, the real challenge is whether people are psychologically willing to take up this matter,” Green said.

Ultimately, he said the goal of passing the bill is to help people.

“I hope it becomes law,” Green said. “It will decrease people being sick. That’s what it’s supposed to be all about.”