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| Jacquelyn Martin/ AFP via Getty Images |
The Department of Defense has given multimillion-dollar grants in recent years to a health organization that promotes “safe abortions” and “reproductive health” abroad. The DOD’s stated goal for the money is to mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS in the military forces of U.S. allies.
The organization, Washington, D.C.-based Population Services International, supports “safe abortion” as well as “sexual & reproductive health,” according to its website’s “practice areas” page.
“Through its global health engagement efforts, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) works with foreign nations to ensure health protection and medical readiness,” the organization’s website says.
“The Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) is responsible for assisting foreign military partners with the development and implementation of culturally focused, military-specific HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs in over 65 countries,” the site continued.
The Defense Department funds other health nonprofits to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, but Population Services International jumped out to Robert Stilson, senior research analyst at the Capital Research Center, because of its support for abortion.
“There are few Defense Department grants that go to nonprofits and even fewer that go to ideological nonprofits,” Stilson told The Daily Signal.
“This is a largely unobjectionable cause, HIV prevention. You can question whether U.S. tax dollars should fund foreign militaries. But even funding for an uncontroversial objective goes to an organization that supports something controversial like abortion,” he said.
Stilson’s research on the DOD grants noted $2.3 million in funding for the Lesotho Defense Forces, which he said has about 2,000 members. That’s an expense of $1,000 per service member, whether the service member is HIV positive or not, Stilson said.
Lesotho is a small country in Southern Africa.
“I don’t think most Americans think about HIV protections for foreign militaries,” Stilson added.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, better known as USAID, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR and created under President George W. Bush, have also given millions to Population Services International.
“Per the cooperative agreement’s terms and conditions, all recipients agree to comply with all existing U.S. statutory abortion restrictions that apply to U.S. foreign assistance funding,” Peter Graves, a Military Health System spokesman, told The Daily Signal in an email.
Graves said agreements with Population Services International are done in cooperation with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and that funding is transferred to the DOD from the State Department. The money is implemented in 12-month phases with the current phase ending Sept. 30, he said.
“Award conditions are current to include all applicable executive orders, including the Presidential Memorandum to reinstate the Mexico City Policy (Jan. 24, 2025) and Enforcing the Hyde Act (Jan. 24, 2025),” Graves continued, referring to two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders mandating that taxpayer dollars do not go to the promotion of or payment for abortions. --->READ MORE HERE
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