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Americans & Foreign Aid: A Crisis of Compassion? with Dr. Matthew Loftus
March 04, 2025 · 45 min

When U.S. foreign aid is frozen, what happens to the people who depend on it? In this episode, Dr. Matthew Loftus and Amy Julia Becker dive into the effects of USAID cuts, including:

The life-or-death consequences for HIV patientsThe difficult choices clinics and hospitals now faceThe political and religious divisions driving the debateWhat it means to be pro-lifeHow concerned Americans can respond

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Amy Julia's Substack email newsletter about USAID: Caring for Humans is Slow, Messy, and BeautifulNYT opinion essay by Leah Libresco Sargeant, Matthew Loftus, Kristin M. Collier, and Kathryn Jean Lopez:As Fellow Pro-Lifers, We Are Begging Marco Rubio to Save Foreign AidProPublica article:"The Trump Administration Said These Aid Programs Saved Lives. It Canceled Them Anyway."Washington Post articleMatt’s thesis: Discipline and FlourishAfrican Mission HealthcareSubscribe to Amy Julia's weekly email

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WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here

READ the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast.

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ABOUT:

Matthew Loftus lives with his family in East Africa, where he has taught and practiced Family Medicine since 2015. He is especially passionate about Family Medicine education and mental health care in mission hospitals. He grew up in a family of 15 children and did all of his medical training in Baltimore. He also holds an M.A. in Theology from St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute in Baltimore and has written for several publications, including Christianity Today, Mere Orthodoxy, First Things, and The New York Times. You can learn more about his work and writing at www.matthewandmaggie.org

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