The current bill “shatters the bipartisan cooperation and good will that is needed for this bill, by making billions available for pro-abortion groups,” Smith says. He adds that the Democrats’ bill, as currently drafted, would end a requirement that PEPFAR organizations pledge not to support practices that exploit women — prostitution and international sex-trafficking.

Before his recent death, Lantos, the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, reportedly wanted to mark up a bipartisan bill that Smith and other Republicans could support. Smith prefers the larger $50 billion number proposed by the Democrats. The question is where the money goes — to treat AIDS patients, or to serve someone else’s agenda.