I don't see any comparison between beating your spouse and passing along an STD.
Both cause physical harm. Both are done without the spouse's consent. Do you really believe if the spouse was informed his/her spouse had something that could harm them, they would consent to having sex? IF they did, they would be an idiot.
Indeed. Bad form, to say the least. I'd hesitate to call it a criminal matter.
I think if you are going to poison the well, a spouse has the right to decide whether or not they wish to ingest the poison. They have a right to know their spouse's body is a potential killing machine.
Well you might as well ask how many folks would get married on the off-chance their spouse might just one day kill them with a meat cleaver.
The time to potentially kill them with a meat cleaver would prior to taking the marital vows. Those vows pretty much indicate there will be no meat-cleaving towards the other spouse.
Here's a problem: The disease could be passed along without the cheating spouse's knowledge (not everyone knows right away they have an STD and some can be asymptomatic).
I know that ... which is exactly why it's up to the cheater to immediately inform their spouse that they are the potential carrier of some deadly cooties.
In that case, how do you establish a criminal offense? Certainly there's no intent involved. Also, how do you go about proving who gave what to who? This could eventually turn into a he-said-she-said right away.
The intent involved is the fact that information is being kept from the other spouse that they have a right to know about. I never said there wouldn't be a problem with proving who did what. That isn't any different than any other type of abuse.