Republicans have delayed over $1 billion in funding for a critical HIV prevention program

Republicans continue to use a critical HIV prevention program as a bargaining chip in budget negotiations, and a recent report from The Washington Post reveals that the consequences have already begun.

Backhanded Republican maneuvers have reportedly resulted in over $1 billion in delayed funding for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an African HIV-prevention program launched by President George W. Bush in 2003 that has saved over 25 million lives.

Related:

Rep. Barbara Lee says PEPFAR is “in peril” amid conservative attacks and looming government shutdown

The widely hailed Bush-era HIV/AIDS program’s reauthorization is set to lapse October 1.

But recently, conservative organizations, including the Heritage Foundation and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, have been threatening Republican lawmakers with the withdrawal of their support if they vote for PEPFAR’s routine reauthorization. While U.S. law prohibits foreign aid money from being used to provide abortions, conservatives falsely claim, without evidence, that in its current form PEPFAR funds organizations that promote and provide abortions.

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As such, legislators failed to reauthorize funding for PEPFAR by this year’s September 30 deadline. The Post explains that the program can technically continue without much interruption to its funding but said the GOP is abusing bureaucratic processes to prevent that from happening.

The State Department is required to notify congress prior to PEPFAR spending more money, and sources say the GOP has been placing holds on these notifications as a way to withhold funding. Republicans have also reportedly been delaying the funding by challenging how language is used in PEPFAR’s international guidebook around sex workers, trans people, abortion, and human rights.

A statement from the State Department expressed the dire need for funding approval as soon as possible: “The delays in approval are straining PEPFAR country operations and threatening PEPFAR’s ability to continue implementation. If the [notifications] are not approved very soon, PEPFAR’s lifesaving work and gains will be threatened.”

The Bush Institute, founded by President George W. Bush, recently issued a bipartisan letter urging Congress to support the program. Though Bush didn’t sign the letter, it was signed by more than 30 retired ambassadors, foreign policy luminaries, and organizations.

“PEPFAR is a model of United States leadership and a source of great national pride,” the letter said. “It is one of the most successful international development programs since World War II. Abandoning it abruptly now would send a bleak message, suggesting we are no longer able to set aside our politics for the betterment of democracies and the world.”

The letter explained that PEPFAR’s continued success is not only crucial to public health but also to national security.

“As authoritarian China and Russia seek to increase their influence in Africa by any means possible… data show that residents of PEPFAR countries think more highly of the United States than the global average. Stronger relationships and alliances can be leveraged to tackle global challenges like combating extremism and authoritarian influence.”

The letter also noted that PEPFAR has reduced the HIV death rate in African countries by at least 20% by helping over sevenmillion orphans, children, and their caregivers receive critical care and support. “More than 5.5 million babies have been born HIV-free,” the institute said. “With access to treatment, more people can receive an education and join the workforce to provide for their families.”

President Bush also published a mid-September opinion piece in The Washington Post that said, “We are on the verge of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To abandon our commitment now would forfeit two decades of unimaginable progress and raise further questions about the worth of America’s word.” The article said that real “pro-life” Republicans should support PEPFAR.

“Among evangelical Christians,” Bush wrote, “what definition of being ‘pro-life’ does not include saving millions of lives from preventable disease and death?”