Michael Hiltzik: Anti-abortion zealots are out to sabotage America's successful global fight against HIV
For the last 20 years, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, has reigned as one of the most successful global health programs in history.
The program has saved an estimated 25 million lives, mostly in developing countries.
Its more than $100 billion in spending on drugs, other treatments against HIV infection, education programs and other projects has helped to raise the average life expectancy in Africa by an astonishing 10 years, to 56.
PEPFAR, which was launched by President George W. Bush in 2003, was supported by Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, and faith leaders across the religious spectrum.
It was a response to the global AIDS crisis, as Patrick Purtill, legislative director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a
