State Department Censors Women’s Health and Rights from Report on Human Rights

Planned Parenthood: “By failing to see women around the world as full human beings with reproductive health needs, the administration is taking aim at women’s basic rights and health care.”

Washington D.C. - This morning, POLITICO is reporting that the State Department is being told to limit discussion of women’s reproductive rights and discrimination in its annual report on global human rights. According to POLITICO, “the directive calls for stripping passages that describe societal views on family planning, including how much access women have to contraceptives and abortion.” 

This follows the Trump-Pence administration’s relentless attacks on reproductive health and human rights around the world, including the unprecedented expansion of the global gag rule that threatens to exclude some of the world’s most effective health organizations and crucial advocates for marginalized people’s rights in 60 low- and middle-income countries.  

Statement from Dana Singiser, Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

This is an outrageous shift to de-prioritize women’s health care and undermine human rights in the nation’s work around the world. By failing to see women around the world as full human beings with reproductive health needs, the administration is taking aim at women’s basic rights and health care. On day one, the Trump-Pence administration took unprecedented steps to expand a lethal global gag rule that deprives women around the world of the right to health care and information to plan their futures; now, it is willfully ignoring a critical part of their rights and health care. It is dangerous and demonstrates that this administration does not care about women’s human rights.

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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.