PEPFAR’s Future Full of Concerns
- Feb 5, 2008 - comment
The United States has led the world in efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). But life- and family-affirming principles within PEPFAR are under attack as some members of Congress are trying to inject the program with pro-abortion policies while siphoning funds from abstinence education.
The relief program, a highly successful yet little recognized initiative fostered by President Bush in 2003, has brought medicinal aid to 1.4 million people suffering from life threatening ailments like HIV/AIDS and malaria in 15 nations across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Prior to the program, just 50,000 Africans with AIDS received assistance.
In his final State of the Union address last week, President Bush renewed his pro-life commitment to PEPFAR, urging Congress “to maintain the principles that have changed behavior and made this program a success.”
Some members of Congress, however, have much different ideas. The latest draft of the reauthorization legislation, scheduled to be marked up by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Feb. 7, has as one of its primary goals the integration of reproductive health services. The terms “reproductive health” and “family planning,” code for unrestricted abortion, are riddled throughout the bill. This threatens the future services of pro-life relief and training groups. They could face the ultimatum of either adopting abortion policies as a requisite for receiving funding or else maintaining pro-life principles and subsequently losing funding.
While the Mexico City Policy restricts the United States from sending money to foreign non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions, PEPFAR is bound by much less restrictive terms. Currently, non-governmental organizations under the program cannot use grants to directly fund abortion, but pro-abortion groups can, and do, receive PEPFAR funding, thereby supplementing and expanding their abortion activities. The only safeguard to prevent money from channeling to these abortion groups is to mandate legislatively that the Mexico City Policy also apply to PEPFAR.
A second major concern, among others, is that the PEPFAR bill would reduce or altogether abolish funding for abstinence and “be faithful” prevention programming—two components of the ABC Model (abstinence, be faithful, and condoms). Under the existing PEPFAR, at least 33 percent of prevention funds must be allocated for abstinence and fidelity programs, which have proven to reduce HIV prevalence rates in African nations that have implemented it. A cut in this funding would reverse the significant reductions achieved over the past five years.
The five-year, $50 billion relief proposal—$20 billion higher than proposed by President Bush—should not force taxpayers to fund abortion as a method of family planning, nor should it reduce levels of funding for abstinence education.
If you share our concerns on pro-abortion policies and cuts in abstinence education funding for PEPFAR, please tell members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to oppose the PEPFAR reauthorization bill unless pro-family concerns are fully addressed and affirmed.
Further Learning
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