It’s a word designed to sound boring: “rescission.” But behind the Washington-speak is a harsh reality.

A new proposal seeks to take back $9.4 billion in funds Congress already approved. The administration calls it cutting “wasteful” and “woke” spending. But a closer look reveals something much more specific: a targeted dismantling of programs that are lifelines for Black women at home and across the globe.

This isn’t about saving money. This is an ideological attack. Here’s the unvarnished truth about what these cuts mean for us.

Assault on Our Health, Attack on Our Bodies

The proposal’s deepest cuts—a combined $900 million—are aimed at Global Health Programs. This is the money that fuels the fight against HIV/AIDS, supports maternal health, and provides essential reproductive care, primarily in Africa and the Caribbean.

For decades, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been a beacon of hope. In Sub-Saharan Africa, where young women are disproportionately affected by HIV, PEPFAR provides the antiretroviral drugs that allow millions to live full, healthy lives. Pulling this funding, as this rescission demands, means clinics will close. It means life-saving treatments will stop. It means a predictable and tragic surge in new infections and deaths, particularly among women and their children.

The administration’s justification tells the whole story. It seeks to eliminate funding for "family planning," "reproductive health," and "equity programs," calling them "antithetical to American interests." This is a direct assault on our bodily autonomy.

Global health experts have calculated the human cost. Cutting these funds is projected to cause 34,000 preventable pregnancy-related deaths in a single year. For Black women in nations with already fragile healthcare systems, this is a death sentence. It is an attempt to use life-saving aid as a weapon to control the bodies and futures of Black and Brown women worldwide.

Economic Ruin and a Heavier Burden

The rescission package also proposes slashing $800 million from Migration and Refugee Assistance. In conflict zones from Sudan to the DRC, the overwhelming majority of those forced to flee their homes are women and children. This funding provides the bare essentials for survival: food, shelter, and protection from the gender-based violence that runs rampant in refugee camps. Cutting it pulls the floor out from under the world’s most vulnerable people.

The damage doesn't stop there. These cuts will also decimate the ranks of Community Health Workers across Africa, over 70% of whom are women. These women are the backbone of their local health systems. When their funding disappears, they lose their jobs, pushing their own families into poverty. The unpaid work of caring for the sick then falls back onto the shoulders of women, deepening economic inequality and crippling community health.

Erasing Our Voices, Silencing Our Stories

While most cuts target foreign aid, a devastating blow is aimed at home: $1.1 billion is slated to be stripped from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). This is the entity that supports your local NPR and PBS stations, and it is a critical source of funding for Black media.

The CPB provides millions to organizations like Black Public Media (BPM) and the African-American Public Radio Consortium (AAPRC). These groups ensure that our stories, told in our voices, are developed and distributed to a national audience. They support Black filmmakers, journalists, and artists. Many public radio stations are housed at HBCUs, serving as vital platforms for Black expression and community information.

To label this funding "politically biased" and eliminate it is a deliberate act of erasure. It is an attempt to silence Black voices and remove our narratives from the American story. In an era where local news is dying, public media is often the only source of trusted information, especially in Black communities. Losing it would be an incalculable loss.

Fueling Instability, Endangering Our Sisters

Finally, the package seeks to cut $158 million from international peacekeeping. Most UN peacekeepers are deployed in Africa, attempting to hold a fragile peace in nations torn apart by conflict. While these missions are complex, the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. funding—the largest single source—will create a dangerous power vacuum.

More instability in these regions directly translates to more danger for the women who live there. It means a greater risk of violence, displacement, and the horrific use of sexual assault as a weapon of war. A less stable world is a more dangerous world for our sisters across the diaspora.

The Bottom Line

This $9.4 billion rescission is not a responsible budget cut. It is a politically motivated attack with a clear target. It threatens our health, undermines our economic stability, silences our stories, and endangers our sisters globally. It is a quiet threat, but its consequences will be loud, devastating, and disproportionately felt by Black women. We must see it for what it is and understand who will be forced to pay the price.