20 years ago, something increasingly rare today happened. Congress agreed on something.

That was PEPFAR, the President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. President George W. Bush

commissioned introduced the plan in his 2003 State of the Union address.

Ladies and gentlemen, Seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many.

We have confronted and will continue to confront HIV AIDS in our own country.

And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad tonight, I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

They work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa.

This Comprehensive Plan will prevent 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 million

people with life-extending drugs and provide humane care for millions of people suffering

from AIDS, and for children orphaned by AIDS.

20 years later, the U.S. government says the program saved more than 25 million lives.

Congress has renewed PEPFAR three times since then with little fuss. That was until the last few months.

Now it's caught up in the quagmire of U.S. abortion politics.

The latest round of provisions is predicted to expire by the end of next month.

So what happens next? After the break, we're joined by National Health Reporter Dan Diamond of the Washington Post.

We discuss PEPFAR, where it stands now, and how the politics around the program became so fraught.

I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast where we get to the heart of the story.

We've got a lot to cover. Stay with us.

Let's get into the conversation, Dan. Welcome back to the program.

Jen, thanks for having me back.

So PEPFAR funds, treatment, and care for HIV and AIDS. How does the program work?

Well, PEPFAR is a sweeping program that works across a number of different government agencies

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