I Pledge Allegiance To The Opposition Of Prostitution.

Congress passed the Leadership Act in 2003 [22 U.S.C. § 7601 et seq.] to combat HIV/AIDS. The Act makes the reduction of HIV/AIDS behavioral risks a priority of all prevention efforts. The Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Agency for International Development [USAID] are the federal agencies primarily responsible of overseeing implementation. The agencies directed any recipient of funding to agree to be opposed to “prostitution and sex trafficking because of the psychological and physical risks they pose for women,” and have a policy explicating opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. Certain domestic organizations brought an action seeking a declaratory judgment because they are concerned that explicitly opposing prostitution may alienate certain host governments and diminish the effectiveness of their programs, and that the policy involves censorship of their publications. The United States Supreme Court stated: “The Policy Requirement compels as a condition of federal funding the affirmation of a belief that by its nature cannot be confined within the scope of the Government program. In so doing, it violates the First Amendment and cannot be sustained.” Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International  (U.S. Sup. Ct.; June 20, 2013) 133 S.Ct. 2321, [186 L.Ed.2d 398].