Republicans are threatening to sabotage George W. Bush’s greatest accomplishment

Sustainable Development Goals and the Threat to PEPFAR

Introduction

You may not have heard of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). But you should: It has saved more lives than any other US government policy in the 21st century. And now, for the first time in the program’s history, it is at risk of losing a critical vote in Congress — for reasons that say a lot about today’s Republican Party.

PEPFAR and its Impact

First passed in 2003 under President George W. Bush, PEPFAR is a vehicle for distributing HIV/AIDS drugs to people in poor countries who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them. It has been astonishingly effective: The most recent US government estimates suggest it has saved as many as 25 million lives since its enactment. It is currently supporting treatment for over 20 million people who depend on the program for continued access to medication.

Threats to PEPFAR

Given its success, PEPFAR has historically enjoyed bipartisan support. In 2018, Congress reauthorized PEPFAR for another five years without a fuss. But this time around, things look different. Some House Republicans, prodded by an array of influential groups, are threatening to block another five-year reauthorization. Their argument is pure culture war: that PEPFAR has become a vehicle for promoting abortion.

Debunking the Argument

In reality, PEPFAR is legally prohibited from funding abortion services, and the argument against the program on anti-abortion grounds is very thin. But in today’s political climate, where the culture war reigns supreme on the right, this is enough to jeopardize the continued good functioning of a program that the Republican Party used to champion.

The Partisanization of PEPFAR

The idea of funding antiretroviral treatment in poor countries was developed in the early 2000s by public health specialists like Anthony Fauci and Paul Farmer. Politically, it was championed by some of the country’s most prominent Christian conservatives — like Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson and mega-evangelist Franklin Graham. The evangelicals provided the political muscle on the right, as well as a kind of unvarnished Christian moral argument for healing the sick, that ultimately got Bush and Congress on board — leading to PEPFAR’s creation in 2003.

Anti-PEPFAR Campaign

The push against PEPFAR began on May 1, when the Heritage Foundation, a leading conservative think tank, published a white paper attacking the program. On the same day, the leaders of 31 conservative groups released an open letter making similar arguments. The white paper’s author, Heritage fellow Tim Meisburger, is not a public health expert. His career has focused on democracy promotion abroad but has recently taken a turn toward conspiracy theorizing at home.

Flimsy Arguments

Many of the arguments in his anti-PEPFAR paper are of similar quality. He argues that “HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and in developing countries is primarily a lifestyle disease (like those caused by tobacco) and as such should be suppressed though education, moral suasion, and legal sanctions.” Moreover, Meisburger writes, PEPFAR has become a means for Democrats to promote “their own social priorities like abortion.” The Biden administration, in his view, has used PEPFAR to fund pro-abortion groups internationally.

Support for PEPFAR

Shepherd Smith, an evangelical global health advocate, investigated Heritage’s allegations that PEPFAR supported abortion and found zero evidence of their veracity. “We have never, in all our years of intimate involvement with PEPFAR, heard of such a thing happening in the program,” he wrote in a memo obtained by Vox. “Without equivocation, all of PEPFAR’s leaders have been focused on the job ahead of them of ending the scourge of AIDS. All have overseen the spending of money, and none have found any dollars spent on abortions or the promotion of abortion.”

The Impact of the Threat

The clock is ticking: PEPFAR’s current congressional authorization runs through September 30, and failure to extend it could be quite damaging. The fact that this traditionally uncontroversial program is now under threat says a lot about our current political dysfunction — and the ideological currents reshaping the Republican Party.

The Ideological Shift

The Trump movement, with its “America First” slogan and attacks on “globalists,” undermined the ideological foundations of Republican support for global humanitarian efforts. In power, Trump put foreign aid on shaky political ground and adopted a culture war approach to the field, dramatically expanding the Mexico City policy from what had existed under Bush and other prior Republican presidents.

Conclusion

Despite these threats, PEPFAR could well make it through the current fight unscathed. The White House, for its part, believes that Congress is on the right track. “We are confident that the supporters of PEPFAR in both parties will find a path forward to get this critical and lifesaving program reauthorized,” an official said. We can only hope they’re right. Because if PEPFAR becomes yet another casualty of America’s domestic culture wars, tens of millions of people will suffer and potentially die from a disease we already know how to fight.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs Addressed in the Article:

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Targets Identified Based on the Article’s Content:

• Target 3.3: By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases, and other communicable diseases.

Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article:

• No specific indicators are mentioned in the article.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: vox.com

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