The U.N. has removed the euphemisms of the abortion industry from a resolution concerning rape in war zones after the Trump administration threatened a veto.
Trump administration officials threatened to veto the resolution, an initiative of the German government, that sought to address the problem of rape in war zones, unless the phrase “sexual and reproductive health” – a commonly-used euphemism that refers to abortion – was removed from the document’s language.
According to Foreign Policy, an internal State Department cable, sent by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s office to the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and U.S. Mission to the U.N., instructed U.S. diplomats to inform the German government of the U.S.’s intention to veto the resolution if the references to abortion were not removed.
LifeSiteNews also reported:
America remains “strongly committed to preventing conflict-related sexual violence and holding responsible persons accountable” and agrees “more needs to be done to deter the recurrence of such crimes and assist survivors,” the cable said, but “cannot accept unamended explicit, or implicit, references to ‘sexual and reproductive health’” because “we do not support or promote abortion.”
Pramila Patten, the U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, complained Monday about the U.S. threat to veto the resolution.
“We are not even sure whether we are having the resolution tomorrow, because of the threats of a veto from the U.S.,” she told the Guardian.
The resolution finally passed on Tuesday, though Germany, the U.K., France, and Belgium all expressed “regret” about the omission of the abortion language.
The Guardian reported:
In recent months, the Trump administration has taken a hard line, refusing to agree to any UN documents that refer to sexual or reproductive health, on grounds that such language implies support for abortions. It has also opposed the use of the word “gender”, seeing it as a cover for liberal promotion of transgender rights.
“We are dismayed by the fact that one state has demanded the removal of the reference to sexual and reproductive health … going against 25 years of gains for women’s rights in situations of armed conflict,” French U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said.
“It’s shocking that the United States turned its back on these girls and jeopardised this urgently needed security council resolution,” said Jessica Neuwirth, director of The Sisterhood Is Global Institute.
According to the report, the final resolution referred specifically to the need for support for children born as a result of rape in war zones and their mothers.
Global feminist organizations complained of “a danger of a weak resolution text ultimately being negotiated and adopted” that embraces “antidemocratic and decidedly misogynistic stances in the U.N. security council.”
The nations of Russia and China abstained from the vote on the resolution Tuesday.
“Some powerful members of the security council, such as Russia, China and the USA, are undermining women’s rights and once again questioning, for example, women’s and girls’ right to self-determination,” said Gunder Werner Institut, U.N. Women and the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, and the NGO Care in a statement. “Through such actions, the achievements that have already been made could be shattered and the ‘women, peace and security’ agenda overall decisively weakened.”
The Trump administration has made clear its commitment to ensure American taxpayers are not funding or promoting abortion overseas.
In March, Pompeo announced the State Department would be expanding the Mexico City policy to include the blocking of subcontractors from using American taxpayer dollars to perform or promote abortions abroad.
A recent Marist poll found 75 percent of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion abroad, through non-governmental organizations such as International Planned Parenthood, with only 19 percent in favor of such funding. When political affiliation is a factor, 94 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of independents, and 56 percent of Democrats oppose taxpayer funding of abortion overseas.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.