Members of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) slammed Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his unbalanced emphasis on abortion and LGBT rights in his human rights diplomacy.
In a stinging letter signed by 25 Republican members of the U.S. Congress which Breitbart News obtained, the lawmakers criticized the State Department’s decision to fly rainbow Pride Flags from public buildings, including the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See.
The move was “a deliberate ploy to be excessively provocative and trigger those who adhere to faith-based conceptions of marriage, gender, and human sexuality,” they declared in the letter, dated July 20.
“As you know, religious exercise is a core human right enshrined in the UDHR, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the U.S. Constitution,” they added.
The legislators also trained their attention on Blinken’s use of his office to promote abortion. Blinken has declared that “reproductive rights are human rights,” they noted, “even though the United States is not a signatory of any international treaty enshrining abortion access as a human right.”
The Republicans also questioned Blinken regarding his repudiation of the ground-breaking work of the non-partisan Commission on Unalienable Rights, asking him exactly which of its proposals he finds problematic.
“Your culture-war diplomacy stands in marked contrast to your predecessor Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,” they declared, “who made the protection of human rights, especially the equal dignity of all people, a top priority, especially through the creation of the non-partisan Commission on Unalienable Rights, which you have denounced.”
“The Commission, composed of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, laid out a vision of human rights consistent with our nation’s Constitution, founding principles, and the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” they continued, “highlighting the struggles of the U.S. civil rights movement and affirming our nations commitment to the intrinsic human dignity and equal rights of all people.”
In its final report, the Commission stated that “244 years after the nation’s birth of the United States can be proud of the freedom, toleration, and diversity it has achieved.”
It also declared that “the credibility of U.S. advocacy for human rights abroad depends on the nation’s vigilance in ensuring that all its own citizens enjoy fundamental human rights.”
“China, Russia, new technologies, and non-state actors pose significant challenges to protecting human rights globally,” it adds.
The lawmakers end by requesting Blinken answer two questions:
Regarding abortion, “What international covenant or treaty that is binding on the United States and has been ratified by the Senate establishes unfettered access to abortion and/or the killing of the unborn as a universal human right?”
Regarding human rights, they ask: “What specific statements issued by the Commission on Unalienable Rights do you repudiate?”
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Chairman of the RSC, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the House Republican Whip, and 23 other members of Congress are signatories to the letter.
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