“It’s easy to slash a number on paper, it’s harder to look someone in the eye and say we’ve decided you’re not worth living.” -Bob Bowers

PREGNANT WOMEN/MOTHERS

Monica Johnson · July 22, 2025

Monica Johnson didn’t know that she was HIV positive until after the birth of her baby boy. After facing barriers trying to get the support she needed as an HIV positive mother with a newborn baby, Johnson founded HEROES-a group originally geared toward alleviating those very same barriers to receiving treatment for women.

These barriers included a lack of child care, transportation, time, and deep-rooted stigma which prevented many from seeking treatment.

“I tried to think about all of the reasons I would come to support group, and I worked to eliminate all of the reasons I wouldn’t.”

Funding cuts to HIV programs have a devastating impact on pregnant people and mothers with HIV. Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential during pregnancy to prevent transmission of the virus from mother to child.

Closures to clinics, reduced staff, and limited services may prevent pregnant people from receiving the treatment they need, leading to more children being born HIV positive, and a lack of available supports and resources once they need care too.

POC

Guy Anthony · May 31st, 2022

Disclosing your HIV status, especially in the South of the United States, can be a dangerous and difficult to navigate task. Guy Anthony, a queer Black man living with the virus, is intimately familiar with the struggle of knowing when and how to disclose one’s status.

It’s part of the reason he worked as a counselor for recently diagnosed and/or treatment naive individuals in Washington D.C. Anthony provided other HIV+ individuals with the support and guidance needed to receive treatment and build a community to rally around oneself when living with the virus.

“If I were not there to help them navigate this system… they would not get the medicine and care they deserve, and they wouldn’t be virally suppressed.”

Individuals serving as guidance counselors are an integral part of the fight against HIV. They connect individuals in the midst of their diagnoses with the resources and supports they need, and keep them on track when they need a push to get to their appointments, continue with their treatment,

People Living with HIV+

Bob Bowers · July 24th, 2025

Bob Bowers was diagnosed with HIV at a time when the virus was widely--and inaccurately--still perceived as only affecting gay men, and only just beginning to be referred to as HIV rather than GRID.

When Bowers attended his first support group meeting, he was greeted by a group of LGBTQ+ individuals who welcomed him with open arms. However, as an straight-identifying male living with HIV, he couldn’t necessarily relate to the struggles of the other attendees.

Bowers has since then dedicated his life to alleviating the stigma associated with being HIV+, working to spread awareness about how the virus can, and does, affect anyone.

Broadly, HIV affects 40.4 million people worldwide, with only about 31.6 million of those individuals accessing the antiretroviral therapy they need to suppress viral loads.

The funding cuts introduced by the Big Beautiful Bill would devastate this already vulnerable population, with clinic closures, lack of preventative care, reduced awareness and education all contributing to higher rates of transmission and death.

Because so many lives are affected by this virus, it’s crucial to resist these cuts and safeguard the resources which keep so many of people healthy.

Local: Planned Parenthood Closure · July 24, 2025

The Planned Parenthood in Santa Cruz initially opened its doors in 1971, off of Cooper Street. Very quickly, the clinic became not just a place to seek reproductive care but a place where Santa Cruz residents--who oftentimes didn’t have the health insurance necessary for a primary care physician--went to seek general checkups. Its presence in the Santa Cruz community was a constant, one that offered service to a large majority.

Due to the funding cuts introduced in the Big Beautiful Bill, and expenses adding up to an estimated 100 million dollar budget deficit in the larger Mar Monte Parenthood group, the Santa Cruz location was one of five clinics which ultimately made the decision to close on July 24, 2025.

Not only does this closure effect those who sought general care here, but it also affects the local HIV+ population, with those who needed it losing access to the antiretroviral therapy, preventative care, and screening they need. Fewer clinics means more people falling through the cracks, and greater strain on the clinics which do remain open.