Democrats would change abstinence rules in Bush AIDS plan

CNN: November 30, 2007
Democrats would change abstinence rules in Bush AIDS plan

(CNN) – Sen. Hillary Clinton this week announced a global strategy to combat AIDS and said as president she will strike one of the most controversial provisions of George W. Bush's global AIDS program — a requirement that one-third of disease prevention funds go to abstinence-before-marriage programs. While the HIV/AIDS plans of Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards express clear opposition to "ideology" in disease prevention funding, Clinton's plan offers the most explicit rejection of the abstinence requirements from a presidential candidate to date.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR, is a U.S.-funded, five-year, $15 billion plan to combat HIV/AIDS in developing nations. Initiated in 2003 by the Bush administration, the program is set to expire next year. PEPFAR has been criticized by public health advocates outside the administration for its stipulation, mandated by Congress, that at least one-third of the money spent by the United States on disease prevention abroad should go to abstinence education programs....

In 2006, former President Bill Clinton offered measured praise for PEPFAR but added, "An abstinence-only program is going to fail." His wife's plan would "reauthorize and improve" PEPFAR but would strike the abstinence provision "to ensure that prevention efforts can be tailored to local needs and populations most at-risk."...

All three of the leading Democratic candidates advocate expanding HIV/AIDS funding to at least $50 billion over a five-year period. Obama and Edwards do not explicitly say they will strike the abstinence measure, although their plans imply as much....All three candidates, however, have expressed general support for faith-based organizations that combat HIV/AIDS and poverty around the world.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/30/democrats-will-change-abstinence-measures-in-bush-aids-plan/#more-3510

Any Rethug would kowtow to the Christian extremists and keep pimping the failed abstinence policy.