Protestors occupied Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) office on Monday demanding that lower chamber of Congress reauthorize federal spending on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
“Pass PEPFAR now, McCarthy! Pass PEPFAR now, McCarthy!” chanted the protestors before eventually being arrested by members of the Capitol Police.
Politico reported earlier this month that “Congress is almost certain to blow past a Sept. 30 deadline to re-up the law governing the United States’ global HIV/AIDS relief work as the widely praised program becomes mired in the fight over abortion.”
Some members of the Republican House majority have argued that a portion of the $7 billion spent annually on the program ends up in the hands of organizations that also perform abortions. From Politico‘s report:
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who leads the House’s global health subcommittee that controls PEPFAR, is leading the charge against renewing the program until anti-abortion restrictions the Biden administration lifted in 2021 are reinstated. Those restrictions would block groups that receive PEPFAR funds from using other sources of money to provide abortions or even discuss them as an option.
Smith told POLITICO that he partnered with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and other Capitol Hill conservatives to lobby fellow Republicans in both chambers over the August recess, and said two arguments they made resonated with members. The first is that PEPFAR would have funding to operate even if the law governing the program lapses, and the second is that the Biden administration has “hijacked” the program to support abortion access overseas.
PEPFAR was spearheaded by President George W. Bush back in 2003 and has been credited with saving millions of lives across the African continent since its inception.
