US AIDS prevention funding used to fund abortions under Biden, violating federal law
Should American foreign assistance – including aid for AIDS – pay for abortions?
Funding from a federal AIDS prevention program went to abortions in an African country under the Biden…

Should American foreign assistance – including aid for AIDS – pay for abortions?
Funding from a federal AIDS prevention program went to abortions in an African country under the Biden administration.
Four nurses in Mozambique who received funding from the George W. Bush-championed President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) performed at least 21 abortions since 2021, according to Catholic Vote.
The 1973 Helms Amendment bars federal funding in foreign assistance programs from funding abortion. The nurses reportedly were unaware they couldn’t perform abortions and receive PEPFAR funds.
Additionally, an investigation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Mozambique Ministry of Health found many of the 2,751 Mozambique nurses who got PEPFAR funds never underwent training explaining the Helms Amendment.
Mozambique refunded the misused money to the United States, and the CDC says it will take steps to prevent this from happening in the future.
However, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, says the program’s funding is “certainly in jeopardy.”
“The CDC must be investigated for its misuse of PEPFAR funds, and those who have violated longstanding U.S. laws that protect life must be held accountable,” Risch told Politico.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Security and Diplomacy Bureau, worries this might not be the only misuse of PEPFAR funds.
“Frankly, it’s not a surprise to find that they are performing abortion with U.S. taxpayer dollars,” Smith said in a press 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.”
Pro-life organizations have previously expressed concerns about the misuse of PEPFAR funds. While they support the program’s aims, they want greater assurances the program won’t fund abortions.
“President Biden’s State Department is partnering with abortion-promoting NGOs to integrate abortion into global health programs, despite the fact that there is no constitutional or statutory ‘right to abortion’ in U.S. law,” several pro-life organizations, including Americans United for Life, wrote in a 2023statement.
“In fact, nearly half of all American states outlaw elective abortion from the early stages of gestation. Over 25 in-country recipients of PEPFAR funding are committed to performing and promoting abortion. The Biden administration has expressed its intention to deepen its ties to such organizations under the rubric of promoting ‘reproductive health’ through PEPFAR contracts.
“This funding is being used to erase current life-affirming laws and replace them with abortion-permissive laws and policies in African nations, where the cultural and religious views of these countries’ populations make them overwhelmingly committed to protecting life.”