UN Experts Say U.S. Abortion Restrictions During COVID-19 Crisis Violate Human Rights

Experts Condemn States’ Efforts to Restrict Access to Abortion Care

09.08.2020

UN human rights experts have declared that efforts by U.S. states to restrict access to abortion care during the COVID-19 crisis are violations of human rights.

The UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, together with the UN special rapporteur on right to health and the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, asserted in a statement that eight U.S. states—Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee—“with a long history of restrictive practices against abortion, seem to have been manipulating the crisis to severely restrict women’s reproductive rights.”

Continued: https://reproductiverights.org/story/un-experts-say-us-abortion-restrictions-covid-violate-human-rights

International abortion rule led to lapsed health aid in some African countries, report shows

By Caroline Kelly, CNN
Thu August 20, 2020

(CNN) A State Department review of the Trump administration's policy to bar funding for foreign nonprofits that perform or promote abortions found it has also affected efforts to treat tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS and to deliver nutritional assistance, among other programs, and has had significant impact in sub-Saharan Africa.

The review, published Tuesday, looks at the impact of the Trump administration's 2017 decision to reinstate the "Mexico City Policy" -- which had previously impacted only family planning assistance -- and extend it to all applicable US global health funding under the "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance" policy.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/abortion-global-rule-usaid-state-department/index.html

Africa – Abortion is healthcare – and this makes it a human right

Reproductive justice is about much more than the freedom to choose to terminate a pregnancy or not – it challenges systems of oppression and discrimination and calls for a focused action plan for law reform.

By Tlaleng Mofokeng
14 August 2020

Dignity, bodily integrity, equality, safety and security, and health – including reproductive health – are human rights.

States must work to ensure that all people, regardless of gender, age, immigration or documentation status, geography or class, are able to access life-affirming and comprehensive healthcare. No circumstances or interventions should lead to discrimination, obstruction of access to abortion, or complications or death due to unsafe procedures.

Continued: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-14-abortion-is-healthcare-and-this-makes-it-a-human-right/

White House Installs Anti-Abortion Loyalist at USAID

Across federal agencies, the Trump administration is seeding the government with ideologues meant to advance hard-line policies.

By Colum Lynch, Robbie Gramer
July 14, 2020

The Trump White House has added another political loyalist and anti-abortion advocate to its roster of political hires at America’s premier international development agency, expanding the role and influence of the religious right in shaping U.S. priorities on global health and development, U.S. officials told Foreign Policy.

Patrina Mosley, who has been named advisor to the director of the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is an outspoken anti-abortion advocate who recently accused the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) of using the coronavirus pandemic to promote abortions—a claim the U.N. calls patently false.

Continued: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/14/trump-anti-abortion-foreign-aid-development-white-house-installs-loyalist-usaid/

United Nations: U.S. Authorities manipulating COVID-19 crisis to restrict access to abortion, say UN experts

United States: Authorities manipulating COVID-19 crisis to restrict access to abortion, say UN experts

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
May 27, 2020

GENEVA (27 May 2020) – UN experts* said today that some US states appear to be manipulating the COVID-19 crisis to curb access to essential abortion care.

The UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls said COVID-19 emergency orders suspending procedures not deemed immediately medically necessary had been used by states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee to restrict access to abortion.

Continued: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25907&LangID=E

Another Egregious Attack on Reproductive Health by Trump Administration

Another Egregious Attack on Reproductive Health by Trump Administration
Undermining access to reproductive health services during COVID-19 is cruel and detrimental to women’s health and well-being.

5/26/2020
by Anu Kumar

The Trump Administration’s latest attempt to roll back reproductive rights and deny essential health care is yet another step toward realizing their extreme anti-rights agenda.

In a letter to the United Nations (U.N.), John Barsa, the acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has asked for all references to sexual and reproductive health to be removed from the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan (Global HRP).

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/05/26/another-egregious-attack-on-reproductive-health-by-trump-administration/

U.S. rejects WHO coronavirus resolution’s language on abortion

U.S. rejects WHO coronavirus resolution's language on abortion

Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters
May 19, 2020

GENEVA — The United States rejected language about reproductive healthcare and intellectual property rights in a World Health Organization resolution on the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump threatened to quit the body.

Washington did not block the consensus adoption of the text, which calls for a review into the global response to the crisis and which diplomats had striven to pass without a vote.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/u-s-rejects-who-coronavirus-resolutions-language-on-abortion-ip

19.05.2020

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US asks for abortion references to be removed from UN pandemic response plan

US asks for abortion references to be removed from UN pandemic response plan

By Kylie Atwood, CNN
Tue May 19, 2020

Washington (CNN)The Trump administration is urging the United Nations secretary general to remove any references to reproductive health, including abortions, from the UN's humanitarian response plan to the coronavirus pandemic to "avoid creating controversy."

"The United States stands with nations that have pledged to protect the unborn," acting Administrator of USAID John Barsa wrote in a letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres on Monday. "To achieve global unity toward this goal, it is essential that the UN's response to the pandemic avoid creating controversy. Therefore, I ask that you remove references to 'sexual and reproductive health,' and its derivatives from the Global HRP, and drop the provision of abortion as an essential component of the UN's priorities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/19/politics/us-abortion-un-pandemic-response/index.html

USAID accuses U.N. of using pandemic to promote abortion

USAID accuses U.N. of using pandemic to promote abortion

By Darryl Coote
May 18, 2020

The Trump administration on Monday urged the United Nations to stop "promoting abortion," accusing it of using the coronavirus pandemic to advance access to the medical practice.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the U.S. Agency for International Development chastized the organization for including sexual and reproductive health services within its Global Humanitarian Response Plan to COVID-19, urging all of its references and its derivatives be removed from the document.

Continued: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/05/18/USAID-accuses-UN-of-using-pandemic-to-promote-abortion/1721589853140/

Win or Lose, Trump’s Policies on Women’s Health Inflict Damage

Win or Lose, Trump’s Policies on Women’s Health Inflict Damage

February 25, 2020
by Barbara Crossette

Whether or not Donald Trump will be re-elected president on Nov. 3, a tough debate is likely to begin soon in the United States Congress over the national budget for the unpredictable year ahead. Reproductive health issues rank high on the agenda for women’s rights advocates.

Trump’s proposed budget would continue to restrict funds for reproductive health sharply, including family planning, to suit the antichoice crowd that is apparently considered an important vote bank. These funds, moreover, would be limited to bilateral aid to allies and other supportive nations. These “friends of Trump” are expected to be active in the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women, beginning on March 9 at the United Nations in New York. They include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, some diplomats say.

Continued: https://www.passblue.com/2020/02/25/win-or-lose-trumps-policies-on-womens-health-inflict-damage/