Left-Wing Groups Claim Pro-Life Laws Violate International Human Rights Law in Letter to U.N.

Nearly 200 left-leaning human rights organizations sent a letter to the United Nations (U.N.) on Thursday, accusing the United States of being “in violation under international human rights law” because some states have passed laws protecting unborn babies from abortion following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

“By overturning the established constitutional protection for access to abortion, and through the passage of the state laws discussed above, the US is in violation of its obligations under international human rights law, codified in a number of human rights treaties to which it is a party or a signatory,” the 53-page letter reads in part.

The letter is an “urgent appeal” for the U.N. to “intervene to ensure the United Nations protects reproductive rights,” the Washington Post reported of the letter, which came from groups including, but not limited to, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Global Justice Center.

The letter claims that “people residing in the U.S. who can become pregnant are facing a human rights crisis” and that “intensifying harms” are occurring as a result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The letter makes no mention of the estimated 63 million-plus unborn babies who have been killed in abortions since 1973.

The signatories called on U.N. mandate holders “to take up their calls to action” including “communicating with the US regarding the human rights violations, requesting a visit to the US, convening a virtual stakeholder meeting with US civil society, calls for the US to comply with its obligations under international law, and calls for private companies to take a number of actions to protect reproductive rights.”

“We sent this letter to draw the world’s attention to the suffering that US abortion law is inflicting on women, girls and others who can become pregnant,” Christine Ryan, legal director of the Global Justice Center told the Post in an emailed statement. 

“There is a staggering level of cognitive dissonance required for the United States to claim a role as a global champion of human rights when millions of its own citizens are living under an extremist anti-abortion [policies],” she claimed.

The letter also argued the minorities and people who earn low incomes are at more of a disadvantage because many living in states with pro-life laws have a limited ability or are unable to abort their unborn babies. 

“Dobbs is devastating for all people who can become pregnant, but it has had and will have an outsize impact on certain marginalized groups who already face documented discrimination within and outside the health care system,” the letter claims. “These groups often have poorer health outcomes compared to other populations, and Dobbs will worsen these.”

U.N. human rights bodies have previously criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling, calling it a “major setback” and a “huge blow to women’s human rights and gender equality,” according to the report.