The Conservatives' Inept AIDS Policies

I gave a speech several years ago at a conference attended by luminaries in the high tech world. I noted that the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic was slowly shifting from Africa to Asia. Clearly, we were losing the global battle against AIDS. Asia is the darling of American businesses, so one would think that powerful business leaders would (for pragmatic reasons alone) press the American government to take drastic action to thwart the spread of HIV/AIDS in that region. That hasn’t happened.

Had the Democrats won in the past two elections, perhaps we would see more effective policies to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. We might see massive programs that work: education among all high-risk groups, condom distribution, clean needle exchanges, and other effective programs. But Mr. Bush and his conservative cohorts have radically stunted American involvement in the fight against HIV/AIDS. That should have come as no surprise to anyone who was watching closely. On his first day in office, Mr. Bush reinstated the Reagan-era ban which prohibits private, foreign groups that receive federal family planning money from advising or even discussing the possibility of abortions for clients. Mr. Bush tenaciously tried to expand this gag rule to HIV/AIDS funding as well.

Mr. Bush then appointed conservative henchmen to top positions within USAID (the main agency tasked with assistance for foreign AIDS prevention programs) who began implementing a socially conservative agenda written by the right wing. These henchmen have carried forward the social conservatives' plan to make abstinence promotion a priority in U.S.-funded HIV prevention programs. Their allies in the House of Representatives adopted an amendment reserving at least one-third of prevention funds for "abstinence-until-marriage" programs. The provision is advisory for FY 2004 and 2005 but mandatory for FY 2006-2008. “Don’t have sex!” What a brilliant plan. Except that it flies in the face of millions of years of human evolution. People will have sex no matter what the conservatives in the US government say.

Yet the Pro-Life lobby has pressed on with their agenda. They ensured that no organization funded by USAID may be required to "endorse, utilize or participate in a prevention method or treatment program" to which it has a religious or moral objection. The aim here was to permit funding to groups that would not endorse condom use or clean needles as HIV/AIDS prevention methods. No matter that these are proven, effective methods. The conservatives object to them on moral grounds. Moreover, they have now passed new rules requiring all federally funded organizations to pledge to fight prostitution. They cannot undertake programs that are seen as promoting prostitution – such as training prostitutes in safe sex procedures.

Groups fighting AIDS correctly argue that the pledge is counter-productive because it would stigmatize prostitutes and make it more difficult to teach them how to protect themselves from infection.

Mr. Bush and his conservative allies have made a mess out of America’s AIDS policies. This didn’t figure prominently in the last election, though it is one of the most important issues facing humanity today. If the Democrats want to play hardball (and if they still remember how to be an opposition party), they should run commercials showing children dying of AIDS – children that might not be infected had US policies (1) provided the funding Mr. Bush promised but failed to deliver (2) promoted and distributed condoms and (3) reached out to the high risk groups, including prostitutes and drug users. It is time to make the so-called “pro-life” lobby answer for their self-righteous agenda and failed policies.