By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-17 22:16:09 | Updated at 2025-01-18 01:01:23
2 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // The Biden administration allowed funding from a federal program that combats AIDS to be used for abortions in Mozambique, a recent investigation discovered.
POLITICO reported that four nurses in Mozambique received funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was established by President George W. Bush. Under the 1973 Helms Amendment, federal funding to foreign assistance programs cannot be used for abortions.
The nurses were reportedly unaware that they could not perform abortions if they received PEPFAR funds, and an October 2024 investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Mozambique Ministry of Health discovered that at least 21 abortions had been performed in the country since 2021.
Reuters reported that the investigation also found that some of the country’s 2,751 nurses who receive PEPFAR funds had not gone through the required training that explained the Helms Amendment’s stipulations.
While Mozambique refunded the misused money, and the CDC reportedly took steps to ensure that the funding is used properly in the future, POLITICO reported that Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) called the results of the investigation “disgusting” and said PEPFAR is now “certainly in jeopardy.” Risch is the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee.
“The CDC must be investigated for its misuse of PEPFAR funds, and those who have violated long-standing U.S. laws that protect life must be held accountable,” Risch said, according to POLITICO.
Other Republicans in Congress had already been concerned about the proper use of PEPFAR’s funds in 2023, POLITICO reported, though Congress decided to renew the program for one more year in March 2024. Typically, the program is renewed in five-year increments, rather than for a singular year. Given the results of the Mozambique investigation, many Republicans in Congress will likely be wary of re-approving the program once the current authorization expires.
Congressman Chris Smith, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Security and Diplomacy Bureau, promised a congressional investigation into the misuse of the funds, calling the incident “just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Frankly, it’s not a surprise to find that they are performing abortion with U.S. taxpayer dollars,” Smith stated in a news release. “Their denials over the years have rung hollow in the face of their aggressive promotion of abortion and collaboration with some of the largest international abortion providers.”
CatholicVote previously reported that the Biden administration attempted in 2023 to “hijack” PEPFAR by pushing for a five-year authorization without amendments, allowing funding to be used for “sexual and reproductive health, rights, and services.”
>>READ: CatholicVote and Allies Protest Abortion Funding in AIDS Program<<
Smith stated that he will hold the CDC accountable through a series of hearings, adding that he will “continue to fight to protect the sanctity of life and ensure that U.S. foreign assistance is used to save lives, not end them.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast issued a separate statement that called for an investigation as well, denouncing the abortions as “disgraceful and unacceptable.”
“We need to know where else PEPFAR funds have been illegally rerouted,” he added. “The State Department and CDC must investigate to ensure that not one penny of PEPFAR goes toward abortion.”
