June 25, 2004
#130 – It Took Him 3.5 Years to Utter the C-Word

From “Bush Backs Condom Use to Prevent Spread of AIDS” in the New York Times:

President Bush said on Wednesday for the first time that the United States should "learn from the experience" of countries like Uganda in fighting AIDS and embraced the use of condoms to prevent its spread, a sensitive issue among conservative groups that have fought the adoption of any strategy that does not focus on abstinence.

Announcing some modest changes to government financing for antiretroviral drugs in front of a church-affiliated group here, Mr. Bush also argued for sexual abstinence. But in his comments, he appeared to be offering something to both sides in the debate: his base of social conservatives as well as moderates in crucial election states like Pennsylvania, who have argued that Mr. Bush has been too slow to embrace effective methods of preventing AIDS.

"We can learn from the experiences of other countries when it comes to a good program to prevent the spread of AIDS, like the nation of Uganda," Mr. Bush said. "They've started what they call the A.B.C. approach to prevention of this deadly disease. That stands for: Abstain, be faithful in marriage, and, when appropriate, use condoms."

The approach was working and was a "practical, balanced and moral message," Mr. Bush said.

He was quick to add that "in addition to other kinds of prevention, we need to tell our children that abstinence is the only certain way to avoid contracting H.I.V."

[…]

"I can't believe the president actually used the C-word," said Amy Coen, the president of Population Action International, which has long backed birth control and AIDS prevention in underdeveloped countries. "That's not one that comes easily to him. But it's one thing to use the word and another thing to actually fund it."

See White House transcript here.

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