The U.N. Should Condemn the U.S.' Human Rights Record on Abortion
(What a woman-hating society this country is. the WAR ON WOMEN continues apace)
The U.N. Should Condemn the U.S.’ Human Rights Record on Abortion
PUBLISHED 7/9/2025 by Jaime M. Gher and Elise Keppler
The U.S. MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE on the world stage for its escalating attacks on reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
Protesters rally on the three-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2025, in Los Angeles. (David McNew / Getty Images)
The periodic U.N. review of the United States’ human rights record is coming up in November. With the Trump administration’s far-reaching, intensifying attacks, the timing could not be more opportune. Never have U.S. institutions, funding and initiatives that promote the rule of law, faced such an abject threat. This is a moment to shine a light on U.S. abuses on the global stage. U.S. policymakers and the public rarely consider the experiences of U.S. residents through a human rights lens — but doing so is eye-opening. Abortion is a key case in point.
Health, human rights and reproductive justice organizations — including local organizations in Texas and Louisiana — recently joined to highlight the significant deterioration of individuals’ reproductive and bodily autonomy in the United States. As part of the review, during every four years of a country’s record, this U.N. submission was one among many submitted.
Forty-one states have banned abortion in some form since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Of these, 12 ban abortion altogether and another four ban abortion at six weeks — when many people do not yet realize they are pregnant. Another seven ban abortion at or before 18 weeks. Many state laws involve criminal and civil penalties.
Thousands of people rallied in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 2025, for the People’s March, just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. (Livia Follet)
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The Trump administration’s attacks on reproductive autonomy throw oil on the fire he started in 2020. Less than three months since taking office, the Trump administration dismissed challenges to states that fail to ensure federally mandated emergency health-stabilizing care, which in some cases involves abortions. It also re-instituted the global gag rule, which bans foreign assistance to organizations if they provide, counsel, refer or advocate for abortion, even if the activities are legal in their country and supported by non-U.S. funds. His administration further de-funded the World Health Organization and drastically reduced USAID funding, which provided critical reproductive health resources globally for decades.
The U.S. is now a global regressive outlier (https://reproductiverights.org/maps/worlds-abortion-laws/) on reproductive and bodily autonomy. Yet experience shows that positive change is possible. Strategic intervention and perseverance have helped fuel major advances for reproductive autonomy in countries around the world, including in Ireland and across Latin America. The upcoming U.N. review is not a panacea, and the Trump administration will surely try to undercut it. But it is an important opportunity to document abuses — including and beyond reproductive autonomy — and keep the pressure on.
https://msmagazine.com/2025/07/09/united-nations-usa-abortion-human-rights-record-health-death/
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