Global AIDS program targeted in abortion battle gets new home in State Department bureau

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has launched a new bureau aimed at making the battle against global outbreaks a lasting priority of U.S. foreign policy. The program announced Tuesday is being led by a U.S. public-health official integral to a U.S. HIV program that is credited with saving up to 25 million lives around the globe. Recognition for the HIV program comes at a time that funding for the AIDS relief effort has been been pulled into Americans’ political battle over abortion. That’s despite strong support for the HIV program across U.S. political parties.