• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Then U.S. President George W. Bush signs a bill that extends the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, in the East Room of the White House in Washington July 30, 2008. (OSV News photo/Larry Downing, Reuters)

Bush says reauthorizing PEPFAR is pro-life, saving millions from HIV/AIDS

September 14, 2023
By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
Filed Under: Feature, News, Respect Life, U.S. Congress, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Former President George W. Bush in an opinion piece for The Washington Post published Sept. 13 made his case for the reauthorization of PEPFAR, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, calling that program pro-life — despite claims to the contrary from some pro-life advocates who have expressed concern some of the program’s funds could be diverted to pay for abortions.

Bush, who infrequently comments on politics or current events in the years since he left office, wrote that his administration, “with huge bipartisan support,” worked to implement the program “before an entire generation was lost.”

Former U.S. President George W. Bush carries an Ethiopian child whose mother is receiving HIV treatment through programs funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, after arriving in the capital Addis Ababa Dec. 4, 2011. (OSV News photo/Aron Maasho, Reuters)

“Members of Congress and American citizens from both parties should be proud,” Bush wrote, adding that “instead of celebrating this success and extending these gains, some in Washington have called the future of this program — which accounts for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of our federal budget — into question.”

PEPFAR was authorized by Congress and Bush in 2003, and is the U.S. government’s global effort to combat HIV/AIDS. The program is the largest global health program devoted to a single disease.

PEPFAR is credited by some estimates with saving 25 million lives and scaling back the epidemic’s spread, and is seen as an example of successful bipartisanship, continuing across each presidential administration since its passage. The program, in part, distributes antiretrovirals in countries where as many as one-third of adults have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. PEPFAR’s funding has totaled more than $110 billion to date; Congress will weigh whether to reauthorize the program this year.

The program’s reauthorization in Congress has stalled and will expire at the end of September without congressional action. President Joe Biden has stated he supports the program’s reauthorization.

“We are on the verge of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To abandon our commitment now would forfeit two decades of unimaginable progress and raise further questions about the worth of America’s word,” Bush wrote.

Some pro-life groups have raised alarm about the program’s reauthorization, arguing there is potential for PEPFAR funds to go to abortions overseas under the Biden administration. However, others have argued those claims are without merit, including the Biden administration, which denied it would use PEPFAR for such a purpose.

Some pro-life and conservative groups have announced plans to score against a vote in favor of PEPFAR’s reauthorization in its current form on their congressional scorecards for lawmakers, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

Bush noted the controversy in his piece, writing, “The reauthorization is stalled because of questions about whether PEPFAR’s implementation under the current administration is sufficiently pro-life.”

“But there is no program more pro-life than one which has saved more than 25 million lives,” Bush said. “I urge Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for another five years without delay.”

Asked for comment on PEPFAR and Bush’s characterization of the program as pro-life, a spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops pointed to a July 14 letter to congressional lawmakers from Catholic Relief Services and the USCCB that argued in favor of PEPFAR’s reauthorization while outlining important principles to guide Congress.

“We write to affirm PEPFAR’s extraordinary life-saving work to date, and to express our strong, ongoing support for its goals and hope for its robust continuation,” the letter said, adding that the “life-saving work of PEPFAR should never be entangled with the promotion of abortion, a grave evil and the opposite of life-saving care.”

At a February event in Washington marking the program’s 20th anniversary, Bush made the case for its reauthorization, arguing the U.S. is a prosperous nation “to whom much has been given, much is expected” — a reference to Jesus Christ’s words in Luke 12:48.

Bush argued PEPFAR is both in the moral and national security interests of the U.S., as it saves lives and strengthens diplomatic ties with recipient nations. He said a large-scale loss of life from the AIDS epidemic would have destabilized the African continent, leaving it vulnerable to bad actors, such as al-Qaida.

Read More Respect Life

Nearly one in three conceptions in England and Wales end in abortion, government figures reveal

Planned Parenthood

Judge blocks, for now, Planned Parenthood defunding provision backed by bishops

Report: US abortions continue post-Dobbs rise in part due to telehealth

In retrial, judge acquits man charged in assault on pro-life protester

Supreme Court rules states can deny Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood

British Parliament ‘effectively decriminalizes’ abortion up to birth

Copyright © 2023 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Kate Scanlon

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

  • NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best

| Latest Local News |

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Lay associates journey with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

| Latest World News |

Whatever the genre, Dion’s music still focuses on life’s larger questions

When it comes to serving students with disabilities, how are Catholic schools doing?

Tolton ambassadors renew goal to promote, pray for famed Black priest’s canonization

NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best

Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Pope Leo XIV champions media literacy
  • Whatever the genre, Dion’s music still focuses on life’s larger questions
  • A sower of light in the shadows
  • When it comes to serving students with disabilities, how are Catholic schools doing?
  • Tolton ambassadors renew goal to promote, pray for famed Black priest’s canonization
  • Creation, human and divine
  • NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best
  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith
  • Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en