Brazil says NO to U.S. Aid

Brazil turned down U.S. AIDS funds because of the strings attached. The proposed $40 million must not be used to treat prostitutes or for abortions, and much of the money would be spent on programs that advocate abstinence rather than condom use.

Sonia Correa, an AIDS activist in Brazil, said accepting the U.S. conditions would have set back a Brazilian program that was successfully bringing down the infection rate. "The US is doing the same in other countries - bullying, pushing and forcing - but not every country has the possibility to say no," she said, quoted in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

So let me get this straight, the U.S. does not want to treat prostitutes - the one group that is probably carrying the disease in greatest abundance and spreading it the quickest. Conservatives need to accept that the world is a messy place. Prostitutes have existed since the beginning of time and will always be around, people will always have sex out of wedlock, and women will always find a way to have abortions if they want them. Now find a way to work around these facts.