For two decades, the United States has pursued a far-reaching global agenda to fight HIV and AIDS, an initiative credited with saving more than 25 million lives. But the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR, has been abruptly bogged down in a domestic political fight, with Republicans citing allegations that the program’s funding is being used to indirectly support abortions — claims that health advocates, Democrats and PEPFAR officials say are baseless.
As a result, lawmakers have spent months wrangling over whether Congress will reauthorize the program for five years, for one year or not at all — a decision that experts warn has both practical and symbolic consequences.
“If PEPFAR doesn’t get reauthorized, the program can continue — but it could send some pretty chilling messages to people in the field who depend on PEPFAR for life support,” said Jennifer Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at KFF, a health policy organization that has tracked the provisions set to expire Sept. 30.
Treasured by medical professionals and praised by foreign leaders, PEPFAR is the world’s largest health program devoted to a single disease — a status that officials say achieves the dual goal of strengthening U.S. diplomatic ties and boosting public health. Since the program’s inception in 2003, spearheaded by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR has spent in excess of $100 billion across more than 50 countries; distributed millions of courses of medicine to treat and prevent HIV; collected data that shed new light on the virus’s spread; and forged durable partnerships with local governments and organizations.
Experts have credited PEPFAR for helping stabilize health systems in regions including sub-Saharan Africa, which was devastated by the spread of HIV in the 1990s, and for building global capacity for future crises.
But the program is now dogged by accusations that its funds are helping prop up abortion providers, a charge first publicly leveled in a report from the conservative Heritage Foundation in May and amplified by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (N.J.), an antiabortion Republican who chairs a key House panel.
“It’s just dumbfounding to me that the charge has been taken seriously,” said Shepherd Smith, a co-founder of the Children’s AIDS Fund International who has worked closely with PEPFAR since its start and is among the advocates urging Congress to reauthorize the program before key provisions expire later this year.
The Biden administration had sought a “clean” five-year reauthorization of the HIV program, with no new policy restrictions, allowing Congress to quickly update the existing PEPFAR legislation without opening it back up to a lengthy debate.
Antiabortion advocacy groups insist that is a nonstarter. Heritage, Family Research Council and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America have warned lawmakers that if they vote for the Biden-backed bill, they will be docked on the organizations’ scorecards — a key metric that many antiabortion Republicans rely on when campaigning for reelection.
“What’s changed is the Biden administration’s radical insistence on ramming abortion into our foreign policy in an aggressive manner that we’ve never seen before,” Travis Weber, vice president for policy and government affairs at Family Research Council, said on a July 24 podcast, calling for more controls on the program. “Anyone who wants to be pro-life in their political voting record, we have to say, PEPFAR cannot go as it has been, it has to be amended.”
“As it stands under the Biden administration … this will be a very dangerous piece of legislation,” agreed Tony Perkins, the group’s president.
Instead, antiabortion advocates and Republicans have pushed for a one-year reauthorization that adds explicit abortion restrictions to PEPFAR. They also argue that the shorter extension buys time in the event a Republican returns to the White House in 2025, potentially ushering in changes to PEPFAR and the United States’ broader global health strategy.
Article
Sounds conservative to me.
As a result, lawmakers have spent months wrangling over whether Congress will reauthorize the program for five years, for one year or not at all — a decision that experts warn has both practical and symbolic consequences.
“If PEPFAR doesn’t get reauthorized, the program can continue — but it could send some pretty chilling messages to people in the field who depend on PEPFAR for life support,” said Jennifer Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at KFF, a health policy organization that has tracked the provisions set to expire Sept. 30.
Treasured by medical professionals and praised by foreign leaders, PEPFAR is the world’s largest health program devoted to a single disease — a status that officials say achieves the dual goal of strengthening U.S. diplomatic ties and boosting public health. Since the program’s inception in 2003, spearheaded by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR has spent in excess of $100 billion across more than 50 countries; distributed millions of courses of medicine to treat and prevent HIV; collected data that shed new light on the virus’s spread; and forged durable partnerships with local governments and organizations.
Experts have credited PEPFAR for helping stabilize health systems in regions including sub-Saharan Africa, which was devastated by the spread of HIV in the 1990s, and for building global capacity for future crises.
But the program is now dogged by accusations that its funds are helping prop up abortion providers, a charge first publicly leveled in a report from the conservative Heritage Foundation in May and amplified by Rep. Christopher H. Smith (N.J.), an antiabortion Republican who chairs a key House panel.
“It’s just dumbfounding to me that the charge has been taken seriously,” said Shepherd Smith, a co-founder of the Children’s AIDS Fund International who has worked closely with PEPFAR since its start and is among the advocates urging Congress to reauthorize the program before key provisions expire later this year.
The Biden administration had sought a “clean” five-year reauthorization of the HIV program, with no new policy restrictions, allowing Congress to quickly update the existing PEPFAR legislation without opening it back up to a lengthy debate.
Antiabortion advocacy groups insist that is a nonstarter. Heritage, Family Research Council and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America have warned lawmakers that if they vote for the Biden-backed bill, they will be docked on the organizations’ scorecards — a key metric that many antiabortion Republicans rely on when campaigning for reelection.
“What’s changed is the Biden administration’s radical insistence on ramming abortion into our foreign policy in an aggressive manner that we’ve never seen before,” Travis Weber, vice president for policy and government affairs at Family Research Council, said on a July 24 podcast, calling for more controls on the program. “Anyone who wants to be pro-life in their political voting record, we have to say, PEPFAR cannot go as it has been, it has to be amended.”
“As it stands under the Biden administration … this will be a very dangerous piece of legislation,” agreed Tony Perkins, the group’s president.
Instead, antiabortion advocates and Republicans have pushed for a one-year reauthorization that adds explicit abortion restrictions to PEPFAR. They also argue that the shorter extension buys time in the event a Republican returns to the White House in 2025, potentially ushering in changes to PEPFAR and the United States’ broader global health strategy.
Article
Sounds conservative to me.
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