Apr 12 2013
In the Open Society Foundations' "Voices" blog, Zoe Hudson, a senior policy analyst for the group, discusses a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court -- USAID v AOSI -- which "challenges a 2003 law that requires all groups receiving U.S. government funds for international HIV and AIDS work to have 'a policy opposing prostitution.'" Hudson provides a brief history of the law, "look[s] at the amici briefs submitted in this case," and quotes several organizations "from across the ideological spectrum." However, "[t]hey all agree on one principle: Requirements like this erode the free speech rights of organizations and destroy the marketplace of ideas on which our democracy rests," she writes, concluding, "The good news is that opposing voices can still come together when the Bill of Rights is on the line" (4/9).
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 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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