America’s flagship Aids programme ‘in jeopardy’ over abortion scandal
America’s flagship Aids programme ‘in jeopardy’ over abortion scandal
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The Pepfar programme is credited with saving 25 million lives worldwide. Copy link. twitter. facebook. whatsapp. A flagship American anti-HIV aid programme credited with saving 25 million lives is in jeopardy after four Mozambican nurses were found to have conducted banned abortions, a top Republican has warned.
Senator Jim Risch said the disclosure that nurses funded by the long-running President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) had conducted abortions against US aid rules was “disgusting” and “illegal”. Mr Risch, chairman of the influential Senate foreign relations committee overseeing the programme, said: “This violation means that the future of the Pepfar programme is certainly in jeopardy.
“I will not support one dollar of American money going towards abortion anywhere in the world, and I will do all I can to ensure this never happens again.”. The row flared only days before Donald Trump was due to be inaugurated for his second presidency.
Mr Trump and his supporters have vowed swingeing cuts to federal spending and foreign aid is likely to come under heavy scrutiny. Democrats immediately warned Republicans not to use the Mozambique cases as a pretext to end a life-saving programme. Programmes funded by Pepfar are barred from providing abortion services with the money, under a rule governing foreign assistance called the Helms Amendment.
