More than 100 organizations have urged President Bush to "stand firm on legislation and policies" to ensure that groups receiving certain federal funds provide written proof that they oppose prostitution

More than 100 organizations have urged President Bush to "stand firm on legislation and policies" to ensure that groups receiving certain federal funds provide written proof that they oppose prostitution. The letter to Bush criticizes unnamed groups that demonstrate lenience toward prostitution by, for example, providing condoms to prostitutes or conducting AIDS education programs.

"Under the guise of anti-trafficking or anti-HIV/AIDS activities, some (nongovernmental organizations) incredibly continue to prop up the practice of prostitution instead of rescuing the victims," said the letter, signed by the National Association of Evangelicals and the Southern Baptist Convention, among others. "Their flawed ideology asserts that being subjected to degradation, disease and death through prostitution is somehow a positive choice meriting endorsement by society and enshrinement in law." The solution, the letter argues, is enhanced government oversight of organizations receiving federal grants.

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