Those in the countries where the HIV/AIDS program has saved millions of lives feel sidelined by the American debate.
African Christians who have long worked against HIV/AIDS either in health facilities or in church ministry are anxiously watching the current AIDS fight in Congress, which will have direct effects on their programs on the ground.
The September 30 deadline is approaching to reauthorize the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a US-funded HIV/AIDS program that is currently supporting 20 million patients on treatment, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. US pro-life groups are opposing the five-year reauthorization on the grounds that the Biden administration has “hijacked” the program to provide and promote abortions as well as loosen African abortion laws. African faith-based providers say they have seen no evidence of that.
“We assure the United States Congress that the claim that PEPFAR supports or promotes abortion is to us strange, unfounded, and unfortunate,” wrote a group of 350 African church leaders, mostly evangelicals as well as some Catholics, in a Sept. 15 letter to Congress. “We would like to reassure you and the American public that we have seen no evidence that this is something that has ever happened.”
They urged the passage of the five-year reauthorization, saying that without it, “our people will be left in fear of the future.” The signers included pastors, heads of evangelical networks, and medical directors of Christian hospitals.
Congress has reauthorized PEPFAR every five years since former president George W. Bush began the program in 2003, but this year, reauthorization appears unlikely by the deadline. This week more domestic pro-life groups announced their opposition to a multi-year reauthorization.
PEPFAR will keep its currently appropriated …
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