Skip to content
image from rawpixel id 5912904 jpeg
© Free lady justice image, public domain architecture CC0 photo.More:View public domain image source here

Supreme Court rules against US government in HIV/AIDS funding case

The federal government cannot require that groups using its money to combat HIV/AIDS overseas promise to oppose prostitution and sex trafficking, a divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Despite complaints from some justices that the government has a right to pick and choose who receives federal funds, the court ruled that such a pledge amounts to a loyalty oath that violates the First Amendment.

The case divided the court between two worthy goals: preventing the spread and improving treatment of HIV/AIDS in Third World nations and standing firm against sex trafficking of women and girls. The United States has invested upward of $60 billion during the past decade in the battle against HIV/AIDS, and the money has paid dividends. Nearly 5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are getting AIDS treatment today. In 2003, only 50,000 were receiving anti-retroviral therapy.

But scores of agencies that carry out the mission with government funding have complained that being forced to declare opposition to prostitution limits their reach into brothels where the infection is endemic. In effect, they said, the policy is counter-productive. The anti-prostitution policy has not been enforced since it was blocked in court eight years ago. Two lower courts also had ruled against the government – even after it changed the policy by allowing groups to funnel government money through subcontractors with opposing viewpoints.

The government, attorney David Bowker said during oral argument in April, “cannot command fealty to their viewpoint.” Both conservative and liberal justices worried during oral arguments that the government was trampling on free speech by requiring its partners fighting HIV/AIDS to oppose prostitution and sex trafficking.

Actualités | 20 juin 2013

Partagez cette page

La délégation des ONG

Le Conseil de coordination du Programme (CCP) a été établi comme organe directeur de l’ONUSIDA. Le CCP comprend une délégation d’organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) composée de cinq membres et de cinq suppléants représentant cinq régions géographiques: l’Afrique, l’Asie et l’Océanie, l’Europe, l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes et l’Amérique du Nord.

En savoir plus >

L'ONUSIDA et l'ONU

L’ONUSIDA a été créé en 1994 par une résolution du Conseil économique et social des Nations Unies (ECOSOC) et rendu opérationnel en janvier 1996.

En savoir plus >

Contacter

Délégation des ONG au CCP de l’ONUSIDA
Eerste Helmersstraat 17B3
1054 CX Amsterdam
The Netherlands
info@unaidspcbngo.org
© 2024 Délégation des ONG au CCP de l’ONUSIDA Site by TwelveTrains Privacy Policy Change Cookie Settings