Senate Rejects DeMint Amendment To Global AIDS Bill

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  HIV / AIDS;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 17 Jul 2008 - 6:00 PST

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The Senate on Tuesday voted to table several amendments to a bill (S 2731) that would reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, including one offered by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to prohibit funding to groups that "support or participate in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization." The Bush administration is allowed to prohibit aid to such groups under an existing law (PL 99-88), but the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was exempted from the policy in the 2003 PEPFAR authorization law (PL 108-25).

DeMint offered the amendment to address concern that PEPFAR funds were being provided to Chinese agencies that perform abortions, a claim disputed by officials from the Global Fund. The organization said that funds to China have never been used to perform voluntary or forced abortions but have been used to provide HIV/AIDS prevention services to women, conduct studies on the response to HIV and publish a magazine column on HIV/AIDS prevention. "Voting to table this amendment means that you're supporting using [PEPFAR] funds, which are supposed to be for AIDS in Africa, ... to promote forced abortions and forced sterilizations in China and other countries," DeMint said. The amendment was rejected by a 70-24 vote.

The Senate also rejected by a 80-16 vote an amendment by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) that would have reauthorized the existing PEPFAR law for five years at $15 billion, instead of the $50 billion over five years that would be authorized under the current Senate bill. As part of a deal to enact the bill and authorize spending at $50 billion, a group of legislators and the White House agreed to a requirement in current law that one-third of prevention money be spent on abstinence-only education, with language that would require a report to Congress if spending on abstinence and fidelity programs dropped below 50% of HIV/AIDS prevention spending in a given country with a generalized epidemic.

On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to consider additional amendments to the legislation. According to CQ Today, under a unanimous consent agreement reached on Friday, eight additional amendments will be considered before the Senate votes on the bill (Graham-Silverman, CQ Today, 7/15).

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