Legislation to update PEPFAR, the AIDS-fighting program created by former President George W. Bush, is in doubt after a key Republican said it must include anti-abortion language. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has long enjoyed bipartisan support and is widely credited with stemming the spread of HIV and AIDS. It’s up for congressional reauthorization this year. But a letter to colleagues from Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), the chair of the Foreign Affairs Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee, is likely to create a partisan rift. “Any multi-year PEPFAR reauthorizing legislation must ensure that Biden’s hijacking of PEPFAR to promote abortion be halted,” Smith wrote in the letter that Carmen obtained. Smith referenced Biden administration policy documents that he says seek to use PEPFAR to fund organizations that support abortion rights or provide abortions, as well as more than $100 million in funding that has gone to groups like Population Services International, Village Reach and Pathfinder International since Joe Biden became president. Anti-abortion groups wrote to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, to raise concerns about PEPFAR grants last month. Why it matters: Smith sponsored the last reauthorization law in 2018, and the bill would normally pass through his subcommittee. Congress can maintain PEPFAR as it is without passing new legislation, but the reauthorization process is an opportunity to make policy changes or to update authorized funding levels. What’s next? Smith’s stance could dim Democrats’ enthusiasm for PEPFAR reauthorization this year. That will disappoint HIV/AIDS activists and public health officials who say that a bipartisan reauthorization of the program would signal renewed U.S. commitment to fighting the disease, which spread more widely during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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