Within the next few weeks, the President will sign the Tom Lantos and Henry J Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 into law. This reauthorization will extend the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for another five years and provide unprecedented levels of funding to fight the global AIDS pandemic.
Unfortunately, the passage of the Reauthorization Act is bittersweet as it not only fails to address the ideological policies of the 2003 Global AIDS Leadership Act, but in many cases has even expanded their impact. One of these ideological policies is the so-called "conscience clause," which allows organizations who have a moral or religious objection to opt-out of providing services to which they may object. In the 2003 Act, the clause was limited to objections over HIV prevention or treatment programs, thereby allowing faith-based and other organizations to promote the A(abstinence) and B (be-faithful) of ABC, without fear of retribution or loss of funds for not providing the comprehensive information needed to prevent sexual transmission of HIV.
The 2008 bill expands this provision to include "care" as an activity that an organization may refuse to provide based on a moral or religious objection. This will allow organizations who receive U.S. funds to deny services to those whose behavior, identity, religion, or other attributes may be deemed objectionable. In essence, it codifies discrimination and in U.S. law and perpetuates stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS as an acceptable norm.
Money is sorely needed to fight the pandemic- but our experiences with PEPFAR over the past five years have shown us that money alone is not enough. This is particularly true when funding is restricted by ideological policies and by provisions that have the potential to erase three decades of efforts to eliminate the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV/AIDS. Without addressing these problems, we have fallen short in our moral and fiscal responsibility to use PEPFAR funding to prevent as many infections as possible. The United States must use its leadership to support effective (evidence-based) HIV/AIDS services and prevention that will both save lives and, one day, end these pandemics.
This article originally appeared in Issue Nine of the Caucus for Evidence-Based Prevention newsletter and was published online by RH Reality Check.
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