An unexpected campaign by conservative and anti-abortion activists to paint PEPFAR, the U.S. global AIDS initiative, as a source of funding for abortion has some advocates worried that plans to extend its legal authorization for another five years could be derailed.
Without full authorization, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which has saved 25 million lives since it was founded two decades ago, would be at risk of budget cuts, deprioritization, and diminished status. Several of its provisions and requirements would also expire, including those that direct PEPFAR’s focus areas and spending, as well as authorize U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
People working behind the scenes to support PEPFAR say the attack has less to do with the reality of how the initiative operates and more to do with a broader political push against President Joe Biden’s progressive policies at home and abroad. It also comes at a time when reproductive rights, and particularly abortion, seem especially politically divisive.