Trump Adviser’s Pro-Abortion Stance Counters Administration’s Efforts to Protect Life

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An adviser to President Donald Trump who works on national security and women’s rights around the globe recently wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post opposing states’ efforts to put laws into place to protect the unborn and in favor of abortion on demand.

Kathryn C. Kaufman, managing director for global women’s issues at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, said in the op-ed that it is an “honor” to “fight for women around the world,” and that includes “full sexual and reproductive health rights,” including abortion.

This is in stark contrast to what the Trump administration she advises is doing to advance pro-life policies, including international policies.

The Daily Wire reported:

In April, the United States — with the backing of President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and National Security Adviser John Bolton — threatened to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution on sexual violence in conflict situations because the language that was used in the resolution aimed to create an international right to abortion.

In March, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted: “American taxpayer money will not be used to underwrite abortions. We’ll continue to refuse to assist foreign NGOs who perform or promote abortions, as well as give financial support to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry. We’ll protect the least among us.”

Kaufman advances in the op-ed the Planned Parenthood talking point that having children can hold women back.

“We know that when women can choose whether to have children and how many children to have, their lives are improved,” Kaufman wrote. “They are more likely to participate in the labor force and more likely to stay in school longer. They increase their earning potential.”

She wrote that now “the United States is in danger of moving in the opposite direction” of abortion on demand:

Recent abortion legislation passed in Alabama and other states threatens to reverse generations of hard-fought gains in this country. If allowed to stand, these restrictive laws will take away a woman’s basic right to determine what is best for herself, her family and her body.

I am a Christian and a Republican who believes women in crisis should be met with compassion. I respect both sides of this complicated issue. But my own experiences and the overwhelming research data on the topic have convinced me that women must have full sexual and reproductive-health rights to have full control over their lives.

Kaufman argued that she is “not the only Republic woman who feels this way” and wrote that they should speak out on this issue.

“The fight for global gender equality will require every man, woman, boy, girl — Republican and Democrat — to come together and ask leaders to be as brave as women and girls are around the world every single day,” Kaufman wrote.

“So far in 2019, North Dakota, Utah, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia have all taken varying degrees of action to restrict abortion,” the Daily Wire reported.

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