In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are roughly 24 million peopleliving with HIV/AIDS, and thousands more become infected daily. TheU.S. government has spent billions of dollars searching for acure.
Since HIV/AIDS is arguably the worst disease in the history ofmankind, one would think that our administration wouldsignificantly support any resource or method that has the potentialto prevent the spread of such a deadly epidemic. Yet PresidentGeorge W. Bush has been very reluctant to support a specific methodthat is crucial to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS: thedistribution of condoms and other forms of contraception.
Because President Bush is a deeply religious officer who has toanswer to numerous right-wing Christian organizations for funds,support and a mandate, he views the issue of distributing condoms,birth control devices and family planning information as a moralone. In other words, Bush and his comrades see propagatingcontraception as encouraging sex outside of marriage, which theyconsider to be immoral. As a result, Bush has focused on giving hissupport to faith-based organizations, which mainly provide andsupport abstinence-only programs.
Though faith-based organizations with abstinence initiativeshave been very effective in preventing HIV infections and shouldcontinue to receive financial support, such measures should notcome at the cost of cutting funding for international familyplanning programs. According to Planned Parenthood, theInternational Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), which is basedin 180 countries and is the largest worldwide provider of familyplanning and reproductive services, lost $8 million in governmentfunding between 2001 and 2003. As a result, clinics and servicecenters throughout Sub-Saharan Africa have closed, and the amountof contraception devices entering AIDS-ravaged countries has fallensignificantly.
Most African countries are in dire need of condoms and otherbirth control mechanisms, so the lack of support that our Presidentgives to international family planning organizations is not onlyillogical, but immoral as well. By restricting the distribution ofcondoms and other contraception devices to Africa, he is preventinga measure that could save innumerable lives. Unfortunately,politicians like Bush foolishly think that they are being morallysound individuals by mainly supporting abstinence programs; infact, they are doing the exact opposite. Though Bush's HIV/AIDSEmergency Relief Act of 2004 pledges to distribute condoms, thebill is almost exclusively focused on supporting abstinence as themain way to prevent HIV/AIDS.
The controversy surrounding the prevention of HIV infections isan unfortunate example of how upholding religious values canactually result in decisions that many perceive to be immoralbecause of their negative consequences. The support of familyplanning organizations and the distribution of condoms could likelysave, or at least improve, the quality of millions of lives, yetBush's religious views have closed his mind to the positivepotential of these measures.
This is not to imply that religion cannot be a positive force inguiding politicians in making moral, sound decisions. Politicianshave to make choices daily that they feel uphold morality andjustice, so one's religion can often be helpful in making suchdecisions. However, the example of the fight against HIV/AIDSsignifies how religion can skew opinions.
The fight against HIV/AIDS must be a comprehensive effort inwhich all methods, including the search for a vaccination,abstinence and fidelity initiatives, and the support of familyplanning and contraception should be exhausted. The terribleepidemic has killed too many people for U.S. politicians tosquabble over which HIV/AIDS prevention measure is more moral,especially when we already know which is most effective.Unfortunately, we have a President whose deeply religious beliefsand supporters have led us in an unbalanced, inefficient effort tofight the world's most deadly disease.
Stephan Vitvitsky is a junior majoring in political scienceand economics. He can be reached via e-mail atstephan.vitvitsky@tufts.edu.
